Sixto's 1st start since 2020 a promising one

ATLANTA -- With left-hander A.J. Puk sidelined, southpaw Braxton Garrett scheduled to resume his rehab assignment and No. 3 prospect Max Meyer managing his workload at Triple-A Jacksonville, the Marlins have just four starting pitchers on the active roster.

Enter right-hander Sixto Sánchez, who made his first start in 1,294 days in Wednesday night’s 4-3 walk-off loss in 10 innings to the Braves at Truist Park. It was a long time coming for the 25-year-old Sánchez, who lost three seasons to shoulder ailments, including two surgeries. As fate would have it, Atlanta was his opponent the last time he started on Oct. 8, 2020, in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.

Serving as the opener in a bullpen game on Wednesday after making seven relief appearances for Miami this season, Sánchez gave up three runs on five hits and one walk with three strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings.

“I would say I felt pretty good,” Sánchez said via interpreter Will Nadal. “Thanks to God, I had the opportunity to go out there and get my first start for the first time in four years. But I really felt good out there, and I'm just happy I got the opportunity.”

The game sped up on an emotional Sánchez, who dedicated the start to his late paternal grandmother and cousin, during a 29-pitch first inning. The frame featured a leadoff walk, a steal, a single and a run-scoring balk before the first out was recorded. Later in the frame following a mound visit from pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr., Sánchez permitted a first-pitch RBI single to Marcell Ozuna.

But Sánchez settled down, working around a leadoff infield single for a scoreless second inning on 11 pitches. Michael Harris II singled to open the third, but he was caught stealing in a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play. Matt Olson followed with a double on the 10th pitch of the at-bat that right fielder Jesús Sánchez misplayed, chasing Sixto Sánchez. Manager Skip Schumaker then turned to righty Burch Smith, who gave up another RBI single to Ozuna and ended Sánchez’s line.

“I thought he actually looked his best in the third inning,” Schumaker said. “He's throwing 98 mph with a slider and a changeup, which is super encouraging. [He] felt really good after 50-plus pitches. So there's some positives that came out of his abbreviated start.”

Pregame, Schumaker and Stottlemyre hoped for two innings -- perhaps a third -- if Sánchez looked good out there. Miami nearly got that, as the right-hander threw 59 pitches (38 strikes).

The 25-year-old Sánchez also heeded Stottlemyre’s pregame advice, turning more to his four-seamer (37 percent). He also relied heavily on the slider (37 percent) and less on the changeup (17 percent).

“[The] secondary stuff's always been good,” Stottlemyre said before the game. “He's always had a decent feel. It's been a little bit of a fight to get him to throw his fastball. Physically, he's feeling good. I'm hoping we can see something out of some innings and some pitches to where he just gets a little more comfortable and gets back to kind of trusting who he was. Again, good secondary command, throws strikes, just needs to use the fastball a little more for me.”

Following Thursday’s off-day, the Marlins will begin a stretch of 13 games in 13 days. Puk, who is sidelined by left shoulder fatigue, will be used out of the bullpen when he returns for his health, according to Schumaker. Garrett, who had a “dead arm” in a bullpen session last week, will only go four innings or 60 pitches in a rehab start on Friday. Barring another setback, that means he likely will need another two starts to build up before rejoining the Major League club. It would go against the organization’s plan to bring back Meyer, who was recently optioned to monitor his innings and work on his secondary pitches.

So Miami will need to figure out a way to make due on the mound every fifth day in the meantime. Until lefty Tanner Scott gave up Harris’ walk-off hit on Wednesday, four relievers combined for 6 1/3 scoreless innings. Despite being swept, the Marlins held the Majors’ most potent offense to 12 runs in three games. The Braves entered the series averaging 6.25 runs per game.

“Anything's on the table right now,” Schumaker said. “Depending on how [Sánchez] feels, it definitely can be an option and have him go 65 pitches or something. But I think anything's on the table at this point. We haven't talked about that part of it yet. We wanted to see how it looked, and it looked really good. Besides a couple of miscues in the first inning, I thought he looked really good against a tough lineup.”