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Sanchez the Next Prior or Wood?

By craig
/ new

And not in a good way.  This definitely a comparison I hope is completely unjustified and at this point in his career it is, but needs to be watched.

When your looking at last year's rookie pitchers, you have to look at the Florida Marlins. Anibal Sanchez, who threw the first no-hitter since 2004, is now having shoulder problems, which is definitely not good in late January, and may lead to early season trouble.

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These health concerns will greatly affect the success of these pitchers not just for this season but for the rest of their careers. Just look at Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.

The Fish, typically, haven't destroyed young arms in the past.  So this probably won't turn into a Prior, Woods kinda thing.  But the young ones need to be monitored and Sanchez is already throwing again, a week after the MRI.

Sanchez's concern is his right shoulder. He underwent an MRI test Jan. 22. But Monday, he said he did not feel pain after throwing on flat ground at 60 feet. It was the first time he had thrown since experiencing pain in his shoulder while throwing at home in Venezuela early this month.

Whether Prior and Wood's problems were over work or a function of poor mechanics or some combination of both, I can't say.  I never watched them that closely.  But over stressing an already injured young arm that is coming off a season where he threw 200 innings for first time, needs careful oversight.  And I'm not sure one can rely on Anibal do it himself, the boy wants to play and while that is a good thing it may not be helpful at this very point in his career.

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