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On Monday night, Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez twirled a two-hit, complete game shutout with seven strikeouts against the Cincinnati Reds. It was his first complete game since May 24, 2013, when Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins spoiled his bid for the second no-hitter of his career with a one-out single in the ninth. Sanchez’s gem came only six days after tossing 7.2 scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs, an outing in which he also racked up seven strikeouts.
Prior to his last two starts, there was legitimate reason for Tigers fans to be concerned about Sanchez. After all, he was sporting a 3-7 record with a 5.69 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. As a result of his last two outings, however, Sanchez is now 5-7 with a 4.65 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP.
When it came to Sanchez’s early-season struggles, one of the most puzzling aspects was his sudden vulnerability to the long ball. Sanchez, who led the AL with a 0.45 HR/9 back in 2013 and surrendered only four home runs over 126 innings of work in 2014, allowed 13 homers over his first 12 starts this year. Over his past two outings, he has allowed nary an extra-base hit.
Despite his struggles, Sanchez’s ability to generate strikeouts has been one part of his game that has remained largely intact all season long. One of the biggest positives from his start against the Reds was actually the fact that he was inducing so many ground balls. According to Fangraphs, Sanchez was getting grounders at a season-high 64.7 percent clip on Monday night.
Sanchez’s ground ball percentage is typically in the mid-40 percent range, but he is still only at a mark of 39.4 percent so far this year. If he continues to have more outings like the one he had against the Reds, though, his GB rate can be expected to normalize by season’s end.
It has only been two starts, but it now appears that the Sanchez of old is beginning to reemerge, which is undoubtedly a good sign for Detroit. Given the issues the rotation has faced this year, the Tigers are going to need him to stay hot down the stretch.
Brad Faber is a Senior Writer and Sabermetrics Columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Brad_Faber, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on LinkedIn or Google.
