Gaby Sanchez

BaseballAmerica.com: Prospects: Prospect Hot Sheet: Prospect Hot Sheet Chat: June 3: "Q: Max from Florida asks:
When do you see Gaby Sanchez being called up and what will his major league impact be? Same question for Chris Volstad?

A: Ben Badler: Scouts I talk to like the bat but question the glove. He's not a third baseman in the big leagues, so he's going to have to play first base. The guy can crush a fastball, but he really, really struggles with offspeed pitches, and I think that big league pitchers will be able to exploit that weakness with more regularity than Double-A pitchers."

Gaby Sanchez was a sleeper pick of mine before the 2007 season. He was an older draftee out of U. of Miami and had crushed Low A. With Mike Jacobs blocking him at 1B, I thought he'd move quickly. He did not as High A proved more challenging than I had projected.

He has been good in Double-A, but the power isn't there despite the presence of OBP. A .410 OBP with a .313 AVG is impressive, but a .453 SLG is not for a prospect who will be 25 in September. He does have 9 SB and a good batting eye with 32 walks and just 33 strikeouts.

Current Marlins 1B Mike Jacobs will be arbitration eligible after the season. I doubt Sanchez gets the chance this season, but there is no reason for Jacobs to block Sanchez next year. As long as Gaby remains in the Marlins organization, he will have some fantasy value in NL-Only formats.