Anibal Sanchez Ready?

by craig on Aug 18, 2009 3:43 AM EDT in News and Rumors

Anibal Sanchez pitched his second rehab start at the Double-A level for the Suns last night.

Florida Marlins right-hander Anibal Sanchez made a rehabilitation start for the Suns, pitching perfectly through the first three innings. After dealing a leadoff walk in the fourth inning, Shaun Cumberland belted a 3-1 pitch into the right field seats to tie the game 2-2. Sanchez struck out the next batter and left the game after 45 pitches, originally scheduled for a maximum of 50.

A couple of weeks ago the plan was for him to throw about 90 pitches but obviously that was scratched at some point. Now, there could be two reasons for this: 1) they didn't like what they saw in his last start and wanted to be careful with him. That's possible, but I think the more likely reason is 2) they think he is ready and wanted to limit the number of pitches because he will be starting for the Marlins on either Aug. 21 or Aug. 22 against the Braves. Probably Aug. 22, giving either Volstad or VandenHurk another day of rest.

You decide.

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Today, revenge was spelled with K's Picks

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Go Nevada Wolf Pack!

by BacksThePack on Aug 18, 2009 10:30 AM EDT reply actions

Argh...

Yet another example of lazy sportswriters simply declaring that Nick Johnson is responsible for Coghlan’s and the team’s recent success.

This time, the Sentinel’s Harvey Fialkov is the culprit. His article, entitled, “Under Nick Johnson’s tutelage, Marlins’ Chris Coghlan has put up nice rookie numbers,” features this nugget:

It has worked, and Johnson’s ability to grind has become contagious throughout the lineup, with Dan Uggla walking 14 times in 14 games this month, and John Baker batting .330 over his past 34 games.

Yeah, all because of Nick Johnson. Because Uggla never took walks before. And Baker’s never been a good hitter. In fact, I think NJ’s grind-it-out ability has also inspired Josh Johnson to pitch even better, Cody Ross to get 6 hits in the doubleheader, and Jonas Salk to discover the polio vaccine.

Sure, Coghlan gave props to NJ, but what do you think a player will say when you ask something like, “How much has it meant to have Nick on this team?” or “As a rookie, do you try to learn from what veterans like Nick are doing?” It’s called a leading question. Coghlan isn’t going to say, “I was hitting fine before, and Nick’s only been on the team a couple of weeks. It’s not like we grew up together, for crying out loud.”

by Fishcrazy on Aug 18, 2009 11:25 AM EDT reply actions

well..

we were in a hitting slump before NJ arrived and definitely didnt have 13 straight games of 10+ hits but its more of a mental thing of an added batter in the lineup and Boni out of it rather than NJ actually giving advice. In the doubleheader, the Marlins managed 30 hits combined with NJ sitting on the bench, I’m sure he wasn’t yelling from the dugout to take or hit the pitch to Coghlan and Uggla, but since now we’re hot anyways, so we just keep rolling but he may have had something to do with the added boost before we got this hot.

by flmarlins7 on Aug 18, 2009 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions

so you're saying

Coghlan steps into the batters box, looks behind him and sees Nick Johnson rather than Bonifacio, and decides “you know, since the lineup is better, I should actually try to get a hit, rather than all those games where Boni was there and I just closed my eyes and hoped for the best.”

Marlins Stadium: When It's Raining, The Roof Will Happen!

by dan 2.0 on Aug 18, 2009 3:01 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm saying

with the rest of the team doing good I’m sure it helps and make you want to play better yourself. I’m sure the same goes for pitchers.. if they go out there week in and week out and go 6-8 innings and give up 1-2 runs, just to get a loss cause Marlins can’t score, eventually they’ll start not pitching that well. It gets you down emotionally and mentally, it has to… But if they go 6-8 innings, and give up 1-2 runs and keep picking up wins, it’ll be a lot easier for them to keep doing that throughout the season, instead of just the 1st half or so!

by flmarlins7 on Aug 18, 2009 3:16 PM EDT up reply actions

True, but...

it’s different for a pitcher. I fully agree that a pitcher may well pressure himself into altering his performance if he feels like he can’t give up more than a run or two because his offense is lousy. It’s not because they just get demoralized and get down emotionally, it’s because they try to do too much.

But hitters? Hitting is a much more individualized pursuit. Coghlan’s going to collect his hits regardless of what Boner does, and I doubt Boner’s failings change Coghlan’s plate approach. In fact, going by your argument, Coghlan sjould be playing worse now, because he has the security of an excellent hitter like Johnson behind him. The pressure’s off.

It’s one thing to say that the excellence of a veteran hitter can rub off on the team in intangible ways, like leadership, hustle, chemistry, etc. But it’s another to say that everyone’s literally started picking up Johnson’s hitting habits in a couple of weeks—and then citing things that were happening long before, like Uggla’s walks.

by Fishcrazy on Aug 18, 2009 5:01 PM EDT up reply actions