As Anibal Sanchez lay motionless in the outfield during Wednesday’s pregame warm-up, he knew something happened to his hamstring.
He just wasn’t sure what.
“I thought it was gone,” he said. “I’ve never (felt) that before. I was really, really scared. I didn’t know what I was going to see, what I was going to feel after that. At the moment it was so painful.”
Sanchez was placed on the 10-day disabled list later that afternoon with a strained right hamstring. Braves manager Brian Snitker said it was a grade-1 strain, positive news given how it looked at the time.
“Every day I feel much better,” Sanchez said. “It was really painful the first day, but right now I’m moving better.”
Sanchez was following his usual routine the day before a start. He hadn’t felt any tightness and fell while running sprints. Trainers asked if he’d heard anything – he hadn’t – but couldn’t move his leg. They placed it in an air cast and carted him off the field.
“It was painful,” he said. “That’s the only thing I knew. … Thank God it was really good news.”
The veteran starter is taking it slowly while on the DL. He’s improving daily and shouldn’t miss a significant amount of time.
Sanchez has allowed two runs in 14 innings (two starts in three appearances). His most recent outing, April 13 at Chicago, he held the Cubs to three hits across six scoreless innings.
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