Seattle Mariners pitching prospect Victor Sanchez was hit by boat while swimming in his native Venezuela and hospitalized with a head injury.
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In yet another incident of a potentially devastating injury suffered by a player returning to his home country during the MLB offseason, Mariners pitching prospect Victor Sanchez has apparently suffered a head injury after being hit by a boat, according to a story by MiLB.com. Sanchez was reportedly swimming in his home country of Venezuela when he was hit by a boat. He was rendered unconscious and transported to the hospital, where he remains.
Mariners officials confirmed to the Tacoma News Tribune, a local paper that covers the team, that Sanchez had suffered an injury, but they did not give out further details. Reports coming out of Venezuela say that Sanchez is unconscious and in the hospital. He was listed as a major prospect to watch in the paper’s “watch list” that was recently released.
Sanchez, 20, was signed by Seattle in 2011 for seven figures and was fast-tracked to Double-A Jackson last year. There he posted a 4.19 ERA in 23 starts. He struck out 97 and walked 34 over 124 and 2/3 innings. In the offseason, Sanchez has been pitching with Leones del Caracas in the Venezuelan Winter League. He went 2-1 in seven starts and posted an ERA of 4.50. Sanchez is ranked 11th in the Mariners farm system and has an ETA of 2016 according to the 2014 prospect watch.
Scouting reports for Sanchez have him as more of a control and a command guy instead of a hard-thrower like many in the system. His fastball tops out in the low 90s and he has solid, if unspectacular, secondary pitches with the curve and changeup. He’s a pretty big strikeout guy though, as his recent numbers show. He keeps his pitches down in the zone with regularity. Sanchez was expected to move up quickly and have value as a number four starter.
Sanchez’s incident is one of a few recent incident with foreign players returning to their native countries. The Rangers, and now White Sox, prospect Engel Beltre was involved in a shooting incident in Santo Domingo in December. Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro was also involved. During the 2014 World Series, Cardinals rookie outfielder Oscar Taveras died in a car crash in his native Dominican Republic.
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