With Stephen Strasburg landing on the injured list the Washington Nationals need for Anibal Sanchez to right the ship immediately.
For as dominant as Stephen Strasburg was in the World Series last year, Anibal Sanchez was almost as equally impressive in the postseason leading to that point.
Sanchez held the Los Angeles Dodgers to one run over five innings, while striking out nine, in the NLDS. Who can forget the no hitter he took into the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of the NLCS?
All this on the heals of his 11-8 record with a 3.85 earned run average during the regular season, and the 2 YR/$19M deal he signed before the season seemed like it’d paid for itself in year one alone.
Anything the Nationals got out of Sanchez the year would be icing on the World Series cake. The Nationals did need to get something this year for that to happen though.
Sanchez has made three starts thus far, lost them all, and seen his ERA, which started off at 7.20 after the first game, rise over the next two.
He is 0-3 and has given up five long balls in just thirteen innings on the mound. Whatever was working for Sanchez last year, is not working this year.
In this shortened sixty game season the Nationals needed Sanchez to supplement the three-headed pitching monster of Scherzer, Strasburg, and Corbin. However, with Strasburg going on the shelf for the foreseeable future, there is a sense of urgency now for Sanchez to provide positive results for the Nationals.
The Nationals are a game shy of being a third of the way through this season. If the playoffs started today, the Nationals would not be one of the eight teams in. In order to get into the postseason they must rely on quality pitching.
A veteran of fifth-teen major league seasons, with 108 career wins to his name, and two World Series under his belt, Sanchez can be a key component if the Nationals are going to turn this season around.
If this is the case, Sanchez needs to get results with every start, beginning with the next one.