Aaron Sanchez throwing a sim game is probably the most important Giants story of the day. Don’t have radar readings, but he’s getting a good deal of swing and miss. pic.twitter.com/clzjNlf0Vh
— Mark W. Sanchez (@MarkWSanchez) March 14, 2021
SCOTTSDALE — The attendance of the first extended look at Aaron Sanchez underscored its significance.
Plenty of Giants higher-ups remained at Scottsdale Stadium to see a sim game that finished about 75 minutes before the club’s road game 10 minutes away, at the Diamondbacks’ Salt River Fields.
Pitching coach Andrew Bailey took notes of each Sanchez pitch while usually perched right next to Gabe Kapler in the dugout. Director of professional scouting Zack Minasian watched from behind home plate. Many in the organization wanted a good look at a pitcher who was an All-Star in 2016 but did not throw a pitch last year after 2019 shoulder surgery.
It is curious that the Giants chose a three-inning sim game rather than debuting the righty in the Cactus League — and Sanchez said he initially thought he would be throwing in an exhibition game Sunday — but the first peek at the high-octane arm was promising. In his first two “innings” of work, Sanchez allowed just one ball to go out of the infield, a Jason Vosler flyout — or what would have been a flyout if there were outfielders. In his third inning, Heliot Ramos made solid contact for a single before LaMonte Wade Jr. walked. After a Ramos groundout, Wade hit what would have been a two-RBI single. Kapler and bench coach Kai Correa were running the bases.
“It was something that I needed, something that I was looking forward to,” Sanchez said over Zoom after the outing. “And I felt great, stuff came out of my hand good.”
The swings and misses, especially on a curveball that was sweeping its way out of the zone, were encouraging. It was difficult to discern the fastball velocity, and Sanchez, who went right from the field to the Zoom room, didn’t know offhand. Kapler is not addressing media until after the Giants’ game against Arizona.
Still, the 28-year-old came out enthused and feeling good, attributing his third-inning slip in part because he was throwing out of the stretch, which he needs more work on.
The Giants signed Sanchez late, on Feb. 21, and he called his first days in camp “really weird” because he was waiting on test results. Since then he has been slow-played and will be the last of the projected five starters to debut. He has thrown bullpen sessions and live batting practices and now a sim game, and he said it was good to see actual hitters in the box (even if they were teammates).
He is operating under the assumption he can be ready to break camp with the team, and the Giants appear to be lining up Johnny Cueto and Kevin Gausman, in that order, to pitch April 1 and April 2. After that it could be Anthony DeSclafani or Sanchez or Alex Wood, whose upcoming spring start has been pushed back because of back stiffness. Logan Webb has made a charge in the early weeks of spring training to try to claim a rotation spot, too.
But Sanchez, at his best, has shown dominant stuff that led him to lead the American League in ERA (3.00) in 2016. Injuries and ineffectiveness have arisen since, but the Giants believe in the talent.
But when will the talent take the mound officially?
“As far as I’m concerned,” Sanchez said, “I’ve been ready for a while.”
