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The Detroit Tigers have clawed their way back to respectability.
After a horrific stretch saw the team’s record fall to 15-21, setting off alarm bells throughout the city, Brad Ausmus’ club has righted the ship and enter tonight’s action all square at 22-22.
But they’ve been forced to do it while dealing with the steep and troubling decline of one Anibal Alejandro Sánchez.
Consider this. There are 105 pitchers in the majors that have thrown enough innings to qualify for the ERA crown and other such statistics. Of those 105 hurlers, Anibal Sánchez and his eye-popping 6.23 ERA comes in at #103. Only two pitchers in all of baseball (Michael Pineda and Wily Peralta) have been worse.
And it’s not as if Anibal is mixing in some dominant performances where we see his old electric stuff. Even the wins, which have been few and far between, are more of the “5 inning, 2-3 runs allowed” variety.
The Tigers did manage to win the first two Sánchez starts of the season. In the seven games since, they have emerged victorious just once, including the last four.
Batting Practice for the American League
When you watch Anibal pitch, he just doesn’t appear to be have a lot at his disposal. Batters see the ball well, the swings and misses have been infrequent, and if they aren’t squaring it up and hitting a laser somewhere, it may be because they took four wide ones and are walking to first base.
While the severity of his struggles might be a bit of a surprise, it actually does make some sense that Sánchez is slipping in 2016.
The last really good year for the right-hander came in 2013, when as a 29-year-old in his prime, Sánchez snatched 14 wins, led the American League with a 2.57 ERA, and finished fourth in the Cy Young voting (losing to 21-3 Max Scherzer).
The following year, Sánchez missed some time with injuries (not uncommon for him), registered a solid but unspectacular 8-5 record, and saw the ERA jump nearly a run to 3.43. These were still quality numbers, but now he was crossing to the other side of 30 and things can get hairy for some pitchers around that time.
Last year, 2015, things got even worse. The 4.99 ERA was by far the highest of his career (in a season with 10+ starts). He served up a whopping 29 home runs, most in the AL. He’d allowed single-digit HR totals the previous three seasons.
So while optimistic Tiger fans hoped for an Anibal resurgence this summer, the writing was most definitely on the wall that this year’s performance could be the scariest one yet. And though the season is still relatively young, it has lived up to that horror show billing.
Friendly Opponents on the Horizon
If Sánchez has anything left in the tank, we should find out in his next couple of starts. On Wednesday he gets the punchless Phillies in a matinee affair. The young Phils have surprised early in the season by hanging right in the NL East race, but it hasn’t been because of their offense. They rank 29th of 30 in runs scored. So that should be a perfect opportunity for Anibal to go out, pitch into the eighth inning for the first time all season, and come away with little damage.
His next scheduled outing after that will come against the Angels out west. And while they do have Mike Trout and a still-frisky Albert Pujols, they are a mediocre offensive club with a sub-.500 record.
The opportunity is still there for Sánchez to turn his season around, but he better start reversing course immediately. With the Tigers playing their way back into contention, they cannot afford to keep trotting out starting pitchers that are bound to give up 4 or 5 runs every time they take the hill.
Where to Go?
Sánchez has just one year left on his contract, then a team option in 2018. So while dealing him might be difficult, it is not impossible. There might be another team out there with a scuffling starting pitcher looking for a change-of-scenery swap. Maybe a guy like R.A. Dickey in Toronto?
Shane Greene should be returning to the Tigers soon, and while Mike Pelfrey would seem the most reasonable option to get booted from the rotation, has he really been any worse than Sánchez?
The organization is in a pickle. Anytime you have a high-priced player on the roster putting up league-worst numbers, it automatically creates a lose-lose situation.
Continue to send him out there every fifth day and the team, along with said player, struggles immensely.
Bench the player, or release him entirely, and now you’ve committed millions of Ilitch dollars to a guy that is not even putting on a uniform.
The best-case scenario for all involved parties is that Sánchez discovers some hidden mechanical flaw in his delivery, repairs it in the next 24 hours, goes out and shuts the Phillies down Wednesday afternoon. He follows that up with a sterling effort in Anaheim, and suddenly the Tigers have their top-of-the-rotation guy back in the saddle again.
Soon, we will see if that potential outcome is just a pipe dream. After all, a 6.23 ERA doesn’t just drop out of the sky. It is earned over time, with a steady array of get-me-over fast balls and breaking balls that don’t break.
One game never tells the full story, but with such a perfect opportunity for redemption on deck, it is imperative that Sanchez twirl something resembling a gem tomorrow.
Can a pitcher have a start labeled as a “must-win” before the calendar even flips to June?
When you’re 32 years old, and rank 103rd out of 105 starting pitchers, the answer is yes.
It could be a season, even career-altering day for Anibal Sánchez -- one way or the other.
