MLB Rumors: Jonathan Sanchez Out, Bryan Morris Recalled

While there is no official news from the Pirates as of yet, we have heard today that The Jonathan Sanchez Experiment has come to an end with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  We also heard that Bryan Morris will be recalled to grab his spot.

UPDATE:  It’s offical.

Morris is fresh, having pitched only 6.1 innings while in Indy.  He last pitched on April 28.  In limited work, the right-hander has allowed five hits and one earned run, with four strikeouts and one walk.

Of course, Sanchez has a video appeal to deal with with Major League Baseball on Friday, which could lead to his suspension for six games.  We aren’t quite sure how all of the madness works out, but it appears obvious that the southpaw has some more work to do before he pitches effectively again in the big leagues.

It was a gamble the Pirates took, and for some very brief moments, it appeared like it might work out.  Unfortunately, it worked out horribly for the Bucs, essentially thwarting any possibility of the team having a shot at winning in most of his outings. As bad as Sanchez was with the Rockies and Royals, he was worse with the Buccos.

The Pirates have announced that Jeanmar Gomez will take Sanchez’s spot in the rotation for the start tomorrow against Milwaukee.

We aren’t sure where Sanchez is headed, but we trust that wherever it is, he will do well.  Especially with that $1.3 million in his pocket.  We’ve heard nothing but great things about him, and he has some great friends in a variety of industries, so – if baseball is over, it’s easy to see that he will do well.

Maybe he will go back in the modeling game.. my wife loved the video, so…there’s that, at least.

Major League Baseball has spoken.

Pittsburgh Pirates’ southpaw Jonathan Sanchez has been suspended six games and will also be fined an undisclosed amount of cash for hitting St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Allen Craig in Friday night’s game.

The suspension has been appealed, so The Sanchez Experiment can actually contiue should the Pirates choose to do so. But–we assume, plead desperately, shake our heads, whatever you want to say must be on ultra thin ice. Like you can see the water under the cracked layer of ice–ultra thin ice.

The 30-year old Sanchez served up back-to-back homers to Matt Carpenter and Carlos Beltran and then gave up a single to Matt Holliday. Craig hits the Bucs well and it was understandable for Sanchez to want to establish the inner half of the plate, but home plate umpire Tim Timmons saw it as intentional.

After watching the game again, it’s really hard, at least for us, to think any of them were intentional. Sanchez is pitching for his life–he needs outs. Sanchez has now given up 16 runs on 21 hits and has walked five while getting 34 outs this year.

The fascinating/hyper frustrating thing to try and understand is that the Pirates haven’t given up on Sanchez. Perhaps it’s the Pirates strategy to get every struggling pitcher that is clinging to their union card that one last shot before hanging it up.

Sanchez did seem to come out of nowhere. Maybe it went like this?

Agent: Yeh, I know you’re thinking of quiting Jonathan, but I have one more idea.

Sanchez: Really? What’s that? Who would give me a shot after sucking for so long now? I’m just taking this modeling gig with West Coast Leather man.

Agent: I’m calling Pittsburgh. Huntington has Bautistaitis. He hates giving up on anyone anymore–he will give you a shot and all you have to do is make a couple starts–who knows maybe you will get lucky and the injury bug will bite some starters…you won’t even have to pitch well. Hang on, I will buzz you back.