Despite finishing just 167th in each of the last two seasons, Anibal Sanchez made major improvements in 2011. Take a look at his strikeout and walk rates if you don’t believe me. Last year Sanchez struck out over a batter an inning en route to 202 strikeouts on the year. He would have ranked inside the top 100 had he finished with the 13-15 wins we’d expect from a pitcher who threw nearly 200 innings of mid-3.00s ERA ball. Now with an improved lineup, we should see many of those no decisions become wins.
Best case scenario: Matt Garza (CHC)
Similar players: Gio Gonzalez (WAS), Ricky Romero (TOR), Max Scherzer (DET)
Worst case scenario: Ryan Dempster (CHC)
Strengths
Strikeouts? I’m hesitant to label Sanchez’s major increase in strikeout rate the new norm. While his fastball has improved over the last three years in terms of runs above average, he didn’t make many major changes to his repertoire and/or pitch selection last year. So where did all the Ks...
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