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Pittsburgh Pirates Top 5 Prospects From A Decade Ago: How They Did, Where They Ended Up
By Noah Wright
Number 3 – Catcher Tony Sanchez
The 4th overall pick in the 2009 draft, Tony Sanchez ranked as one of the Bucs’ top prospects throughout the early 2010’s. Sanchez crushed with the bat in 2009 and 2010. In both seasons, he posted an OBP above .400, batting average in the .300’s, and finished out ‘09 with a .539 slugging. However, Sanchez hit a wall, among other things, in 2011. In his first full season at Double-A, Sanchez batted just .241/.340/.318 with 5 home runs in 496 plate appearances. He would partly bounceback in the first half of 2012, seeing his BA rise to .277 and OBP to .370, but his power was still lacking.
Sanchez would go on to struggle in Triple-A during 2012, but he regained his stroke in 2013. In 296 plate appearances, Sanchez hit .288/.368/.504 with 10 home runs. By now, Sanchez had refined his catching skills behind the plate, and was given the call to the MLB in 2013 as well. But Sanchez never stuck in the Majors.
In 2013 and 2014, he was stuck behind both Russell Martin and Chris Stewart. By 2015, Elias Diaz had passed Sanchez on prospect charts. Plus he was still blocked, now by Francisco Cervelli. Sanchez’s defense also continued to regress behind the plate and he even developed a minor case of the yips when it came to throwing the ball.
Sanchez played all of 51 games in a Bucs uniform, posting a .259/.303/.371 line, 4 home runs, and a 91 OPS+. He has been with a myriad teams since being granted free agency by the Pirates. The list of teams includes the Blue Jays, Giants, Angels, Braves (who he was traded for Brandon Phillips), Reds, and Rangers (who he played 1 game and plate appearance with in 2017). He did play 64 games/256 plate appearances with the Rangers Double-A team. The now 31-year-old batted just .246/.316/.346 in his last professional appearance.
While Sanchez never lived up to the billing as a player, he was still liked by many fans. Between his social media interactions, fun personality and ability to crush beers in the team’s clubhouse celebrations following clinching postseason berths in ’13 and ’14, many fans always supported Tony Montana.