It's final, Anibal Sanchez won't be pitching for Venezuela in the WBC.
For health reasons, the Marlins are blocking Anibal Sanchez from competing for the Venezuelan team in the World Baseball Classic.
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Florida sent paperwork to Major League Baseball late last week, preventing the right-hander from competing in the Classic.
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"I know my career is here. I want to pitch here," Sanchez said. "The Classic and Venezuela are important, because it's my country. I've got my family close. For the Classic, I'd represent my country. That's something I've never done before, and someday I want to do it. But it's not my time right now. My time now is to get ready for the season."
Good!
The last thing the Marlins need is for Anibal to be throwing at maximum effort against live hitting in a game situation before he is ready. While Anibal said all the right things, I have no doubt he is disappointed. But his day will come sometime in the future. And on that day, he will be, hopefully, at full strength and ready to go.
As I have said before, I'm selfish and I really don't like it when any of the Marlins players participate in the WBC, Especially ones who are still recovering from injury.