Braves fans already have gotten a taste of hard-throwing pitching prospects Mike Foltynewicz and Matt Wisler, both of whom have broken into the Braves’ rotation this season. Manny Banuelos was scheduled to join them Thursday night against Washington. Leading the next wave of power potential still two to three years away is left-hander Ricardo Sanchez.
Sanchez is a 18-year-old Venezuelan the Braves acquired from the Angels for minor leaguers Kyle Kubitza and Nate Hyatt. He’s pitching for the Rome Braves.
Given that he’s so young and it’s his first full professional season, the Braves are keeping a careful eye on his workload. They used a stint on the disabled list for a strained calf to give Sanchez a six-week breather. The Braves want to protect his prized arm at a young age, much as they did with Julio Teheran early in his Braves career.
“We’re going to limit his innings, so it was basically a scripted situation with him,” Braves director of player personnel Dave Trembley said of the DL stint. “It may happen again one more time before the season is over. We may back him off a little bit, we’ll see how he goes, but we’re going to be very careful. But oh, he’s going to be a very good one.”
Sanchez is only 5-foot-11, 170 pounds, but features a mid-90s fastball and a quality curveball.
“He has a very good delivery, right over the top,” Trembley said. “He has a real good feel for secondary pitches. He just needs innings. He just needs experience. He’s got a very good presence about him. If you saw him pitch you wouldn’t think he was 18 the way he carries himself. He’s got a chance to be very special.”
Sanchez was 1-4 with a 5.40 ERA through his first eight starts for Rome, but allowed one earned run in his first 14 innings back from the DL. He gave up four runs in 3 1/3 innings Saturday.
Ruiz watch
If any player in the Braves’ system was looking for a fresh start in the second half, it’s Rio Ruiz.
Ruiz, the power-hitting third baseman and one of three prospects the Braves got from the Astros for Evan Gattis, along with Foltynewicz and Andrew Thurman, struggled to a .211 batting average in the first half, with no home runs in 60 games for Double-A Mississippi.
“He was tinkering with some things, and we’re trying to get him to settle on one stance and get comfortable at the plate, use the whole field,” Trembley said. “I think he’ll be better the second half. This kid has always hit, and he gives us every indication that he will hit.”
Right on cue, Ruiz went 7-for-19 (.368) with a double in his first six games out of the All-Star break. After batting .149 in May, Ruiz hit .283 in June with four of his nine first-half doubles. Trembley said the Braves have liked his defensive play at third base throughout.
“He’s got great makeup,” Trembley said. “He’s hung in there real well and handled it. Coming over to a new club, these kids put pressure on themselves. They have very high expectations. We just want him to be himself, but everybody feels confident he’ll have a very strong second half.”
The other Peterson
He’s the other Peterson acquired from the Padres as part of the six-player Justin Upton deal, not Jace. He’s not even D.J. Peterson. That would be his older brother, a third-base prospect for the Seattle Mariners. But Dustin Peterson is making a name for himself in his first few months as a Brave.
Peterson made the Carolina League All-Star team after hitting .283 with six doubles, two triples, five home runs and 24 RBIs in 50 games for the Carolina Mudcats in the first half.
Peterson missed 2 1/2 weeks after the Mudcats’ bus crash, but picked up where he left off. He hit safely in 11 of his left 14 games before the accident, including one four-hit game and two three-hit games. He hit safely in five of his first six games back. All this while, he’s been learning a new position. The Braves moved Peterson from third base to left field the last week of spring training.
“I really like this kid Dustin Peterson,” Trembley said. “He can hit, and he’s made a tremendous adjustment playing the outfield. He can hit. This guy, he swings it like a man. The ball makes a little bit different sound.”
