Eyewitness Accounts

Hader is an interesting prospect in the sense that some his strengths may also be his weaknesses. He does not possess an overpowering pitch, but there is plenty of deception in his delivery, allowing each of his offerings to play up. Hitters are simply never comfortable from the moment they step in the box. In fact, I saw one hitter swing and miss at a pitch that hit him square on for strike three.

However, all the moving parts within his mechanics make it hard for him to repeat his arm slot for five innings. Finding a consistency and being able to repeat in the long term will be the key.

I believe there is enough going on here to warrant a no. 4 starter ceiling for the recently turned 20-year-old. Hader is undoubtedly a long-term project, as noted by the 2017 ETA, but the wait could be worth it once he is a complete product. In the meantime, I would like to see him work on adding a slider to his repertoire as a fourth pitch. Perhaps more importantly, he will need to continue to build arm strength while improving his strength and conditioning.

Turns 20 shortly, but pitches like he is a 24-year-old; pitchability through the roof. I absolutely loved how he attacked hitters the entire night with a bulldog mentality. Sims was determined and pissed off on the mound, but in a controlled manner. He was in charge of the game the entire night. With three pitches that could be plus, Sims is one of those starters every team dreams of. The change lags behind the plus CB and the very underrated FB, but the pitch flashes plus and gradually improved as the game went along. Sims is advanced for his age and the only thing holding him back could be his need to build stamina and his general inexperience in professional baseball.

Sanchez’s fastball has the velocity and movement to dominate outings when consistently spotted down in the zone. The combination of run and heavy action make it a very difficult offering to square up in the lower tier of the zone. I liked the overall look of the pitch, and feel it’s a fastball that can continue to play at the highest level. The pitcher is inconsistent finishing his delivery, especially out of the stretch in this outing, and it caused the heater to stay up. While this particular lineup didn’t do much damage, it’s an area where the pitch tends to be easier to square and better hitters are going to be able to handle it.

I see Sanchez always having to work and fight to reel his fastball in. First, the right-hander isn’t that great at throwing downhill. He tends to stay more upright in his delivery, which leads to having trouble staying above the fastball. This showed inning-to-inning and at times batter-to-batter. Also, the natural movement of the pitch actually gives him less margin of error. Sanchez needs to be more precise and consistently account for the movement when trying to spot it. Overall, I see it more likely that the command hovers around average or so.

In this outing the righty didn’t throw a secondary offering until the fourth inning, but the curveball immediately showed as a premium offering. The depth and shape of the pitch are excellent, with Sanchez displaying strong feel for it. I see the potential to miss a lot of bats and neutralize hitters with the curve, along with it to be considered one of the better ones in the league. His ability to consistently throw it for strikes in different shapes is impressive. The changeup looked a lot better when thrown to the glove side. The action was deeper. This pitch will be a third offering in Sanchez’s repertoire, but can be viable if strategically worked into sequences.

This pitcher has high-end stuff, and is capable of putting dominant stretches together, especially if he is working down in the zone with his fastball. I see Sanchez likely to battle inconsistencies due to the aforementioned things above, but having the potential to impact a team as an above-average player over the long haul of a career. My gut says the upside is a third starter, with the ability to have a career year or two above that.