Do you hear that sound?  Listen closely.

“He was terrific.”

“This is a tough place to  pitch with a tough lineup and a short porch. And a whole bunch of left-handed  hitters, it is not easy. That was quite a feat.”

“I try to think backwards, if the count calls for a  fastball, I throw a different pitch. If the count calls for a different pitch, I  throw a fastball. I try to mix my speeds.”

He went behind the back to grab that big final out of the first inning and he was on a roll from there.

The right hander has now made a pretty impressive stretch of starts.  His ERA is 2.43 in September and October for the Detroit Tigers.

He will be a free agent this offseason.

His name is Anibal Sanchez.   Of course, the Tigers would like to sign Sanchez.  But his price is skyrocketing right now.  We think you know what that means for Bob Nutting’s wishlist.

He is pitching his ass off since making 19 starts for the Marlins this year and giving up nearly four runs per game.  One would have to believe that when Sanchez headed to the American League, it would have been difficult for him to improve upon his numbers. Especially if one considered taking away the at-bats by pitchers and replacing them with a talented DH.  But that didn’t happen.

His ERA predictors showed that he was about a half run better than his ERA.  He simply became a different pitcher with runners on base when he was with the Marlins.

The right hander has changed that since coming to the  Tigers.  After a rough debut against the Blue Jays when he was shelled for three bombs, and those two rough starts in the middle of August when he surrendered twelve runs to the Yanks and Twins in 8.1 innings,  Sanchez has been solid.

While the numbers won’t blow anyone away, the 28-year old thrived down the stretch for the-in-the-driver’s-seat Detroit Tigers who took a 2-0 lead over the New York Yankees behind another strong outing from their 5’11″ right hander .

Everyone knows what happens when pretty good starting pitchers hit the open market.  Had Maracay, Venezuela’s favorite son remained around league average, the Bucs had a shot.  Now that he looks like a solid number two for a team’s rotation, he’s out.

The dollars are going to go up.  The contract years will get even bigger.  The agents at SFX have to be licking their chops as he piles up impressive start after impressive start.

It’s still a big question mark to determine if Sanchez gets showered with Stroh’s after the Tigers win the World Series, but there is one thing he will get showered with this winter.

Cash.

Fangraphs-Sanchez

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We also looked at Shaun Marcom and Francisco Liriano recently.

http://rumbunter.com/2012/10/08/mlb-free-agent-rumors-should-the-pittsburgh-pirates-pass-on-shaun-marcum/

http://rumbunter.com/2012/10/07/mlb-free-agent-rumors-francisco-liriano-to-the-pittsburgh-pirates/

PARTY RUINED: Neil Walker was the only Pittsburgh Pirates player to have a hit last night against Anibal Sanchez.

Anibal Sanchez was filthy. (more…)