Sánchez emerging as crucial bat for Marlins

MIAMI -- First-year manager Skip Schumaker didn’t know what kind of hitter he had in Jesús Sánchez at the start of Spring Training.

Sánchez had a down season last year -- he hit .214/.280/.403 -- and was facing a pinch to make the Major League roster when the Marlins decided to move Jazz Chisholm Jr. to center field. Sánchez started the spring hot (11-for-34 in 13 games), before cooling off.

“I was trying to figure it out all Spring Training,” Schumaker said. “[He] didn't have a great Spring Training -- it was okay, it wasn't great. I think he was really learning the [new] hitting guys and building that relationship.”

Two months into the season, it’s become increasingly hard for Schumaker to keep Sánchez out of the lineup. The reason? He’s a much-needed left-handed-hitting batter who has a skill for going opposite-field. (Entering Friday, just six of his hits this season had gone to the right side, while two of his three homers had been to center field.)

That talent was on display in Friday night's 4-0 win over the A’s in the series opener at loanDepot park. Sánchez went 3-for-4, his second three-hit game this campaign, and made an impressive defensive play to ensure the shutout started by Edward Cabrera, who struck out 10 in six dazzling frames.

Sánchez’s night began with a long ball, his fourth of the season and first opposite-field homer. Facing the A’s flamethrowing opener Shintaro Fujinami with Bryan De La Cruz on first base, Sánchez saw a pitch he liked and -- a 98.9 mph four-seam fastball -- and didn't hold back, sending the ball soaring into the Marlins’ bullpen in left field.

“Yeah, I think it's just my stronger ability right there, just hitting on the opposite side,” Sánchez said via team interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “Sometimes you might be a little lost on the play, but ... what I always do is just try to hit like a righty sometimes, just hit opposite field.”

The homer also continued an impressive trend for Sánchez, who entered Friday with the second-highest batting average against fastballs in the Majors this season (.429), behind just Cincinnati’s TJ Friedl (.444).

“We needed that lefty bat bad,” Schumaker said of Sánchez, who returned to play on Tuesday after spending 14 games on the IL with a right hamstring strain. “It was a really good night. He's becoming a complete hitter. He's game planning. I thought DLC did a really good job today as well. DLC gets that hit, two-strike approach. If he doesn't get that hit, Sánchez [faces a] lefty. Because he got that hit … he gets the matchup that we wanted. I didn't know it was going to be a home run, but I liked the matchup.”

Somehow, though, that home run wasn’t the most impressive thing Sánchez did. That requires fast-forwarding to the sixth inning, when Esteury Ruiz stepped to the plate to lead off the inning. Ruiz leads the Majors with 28 stolen bases in 33 attempts this season.

Ruiz hit a soft grounder back to Cabrera, whose throw to first sailed past Yuli Gurriel and into right field. But Sánchez corralled the ball and unleashed a thow to third base -- a 95.2 mph laser -- that one-hopped and was picked by Jean Segura, who applied the tag on Ruiz for the out. Had Ruiz reached third safely, he likely would have scored on Ryan Noda’s single in the next at-bat.

“I saw the ball, I saw that he was hesitating a little bit,” Sánchez said, “and I was seeing some attitude [Ruiz] had, like, trying to go to third. And I thought, ‘If he's going, I gotta get him out.’ And you know, I got him.”

“The throw wasn't great, I'll be honest with you,” Schumaker said. “It was like an in-between hop. But the fact that he was there -- that's what we're talking about, right? Picking up your teammates. He was there. He anticipated it being a bad throw. He just didn't watch the paint dry, right? He went and got the ball. The guy took the extra base, he's ready for it. And Segura, I mean, we work on tags all the time. That was a really tough tag.”

Since Sánchez returned from the IL, he’s gone 5-for-10, split between two starts and two pinch-hit appearances. And like Schumaker said, it’s getting harder and harder to justify keeping Sánchez out of the lineup.

“I didn't know what kind of hitter he was gonna be,” Schumaker said. “I didn't know if he was a platoon guy. I didn't know if he's an everyday guy, didn't know if he's just a guy off the bench.

“He earned these starts. And it's beginning to be tougher to get him out of the lineup, honestly. But that's how this game works, right? You earn that position. He's helped us win a lot of games so far.”