ROMULO SANCHEZ

4/28/84; NDFA '02 (LA); Venezuela
R/R; 6-5, 242

Level
W-L-Sv
G
GS
IP
H
 HR
BB
K
 BB/9 K/9 WHIP OAVG
ERA
2002 DSL (LA)
1-4-1
15
0
24.1
24
 4
10
22
 3.70 8.14 1.40

.242
4.44
2003 DSL (LA) 
2-3-0
9
9
38.1
40
 1
10
21
 2.35 4.93 1.30

.255
4.46
2004 VSL
0-0-2
3
0
4.0
4
 0
0
3
 0.00 6.75 1.00

.202
0.00
2005 AA
1-0-0
2
2
10.0
11
 2
4
5
 3.60
4.50
1.50
.282
3.60
2005 A
3-3-0
10
10
53.2
59
 5
19
24
 3.19
4.03
1.45
.292
4.70
2005 R
1-0-0
2
1
10.0
7
 1
4
7
 3.60
6.30
1.10
.206
1.80
2006 AA
0-0-0
8
0
9.0
8
 1
8
5
 8.00
5.00
1.78
.242
5.00
2006 A+
0-0-1
8
0
8.2
7
 0
4
6
 4.16
6.24
1.27
.212
1.04
2006 A
0-3-4
21
3
40.2
51
 4
18
28
 3.98
6.20
1.70
.302
7.08
2007 NL
1-0-0
16
0
18.0
16
 2
8
11
 4.00
5.50
1.33
.254
5.00
2007 AA
6-3-1
40
0
57.2
43
 8
17
52
 2.65
8.12
1.04
.204
2.81

Sanchez is one of the more curious players in the Pirates' system. He originally signed with the Dodgers, but they released him after two years. After he signed with the Pirates, his velocity increased dramatically to the mid-90s. In 2005, he ended up having a very interesting odyssey, getting called up to Altoona to fill in for a couple of starts when the Curve were shorthanded. Amazingly, considering his experience level, he pitched well. Afterward, he was sent to Hickory and pitched very well for a while, but the hitters eventually caught up with him. He's had low K rates despite the velocity, which probably results from the lack of a good secondary pitch. At this stage, he's just a thrower. He opened 2006 at Hickory, but struggled there, allowing a lot of baserunners and still not fanning many. The Pirates nevertheless moved him up to Lynchburg. He was there only briefly and struggled a little with his control—I saw one game in which he walked in the winning run—but after 8.2 IP the Pirates moved him on up to Altoona. He was not able to throw strikes there, either.

The best explanation I can come up with for the seemingly undeserved promotions is that the Pirates wanted to evaluate Sanchez for purposes of determining whether to put him on the 40-man roster. They decided to add him to the roster and then began touting him as a sign of progress in their Latin American scouting, which had been entirely unproductive during Dave Littlefield's tenure. Considering that he's just a reliever, it was absurd to push him as a sign of progress, but he is a real prospect. He went back to Altoona in 2007 and improved across the board, showing better control, allowing fewer baserunners and increasing his K rate. He held RH batters to a .155 average, while lefties hit .263 against him. He did best in long relief; during one stretch the Curve started using him in the late innings and he had his one bad spell, posting an ERA of 9.72 in June. The Pirates called him up in late August and he held his own well enough to get a good deal of work. He had a 1.42 ERA in late September, but it took a hit with a string of three bad outings. He still has trouble with the strike zone and is more of a thrower than a pitcher, but he has an improving curve and throws hard enough that his fastball location doesn't have to be perfect. He was expected to get a shot at a major league job in 2008, but was an early cut and was assigned to AAA.

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