Romulo Sanchez's Yankee Debut

Written by Greg Fertel | 10 May 2010

Big man Romulo Sanchez made his Yankee debut in last night's blow out against the Red Sox. The game was already over when he entered the game, but that didn't stop Romulo from showing what he is capable of.

After AJ Burnett was shelled, the Yankees turned to Sanchez to save the bullpen. He did his job and finished out the rest of the game.

3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K

This was very good to see, especially considering the start to the season Sanchez had. After his first four starts, Romulo possessed a pedestrian 14:13 strikeout to walk ratio.

In his fifth start, we saw the Romulo that we were used to seeing towards the end of last season, where he dominated out of the Triple-A rotation. When I profiled Sanchez back in November, I talked about how impressive his transition to the rotation last season was.

Scranton's rotation was full of holes, and Sanchez was moved into the rotation for the first time since early 2006. To say that he thrived in the rotation might be an understatement. As a starter, he struck out 55 in 55.1 innings, while maintaining high-90s fastballs into the middle innings. He was just overpowering hitters, getting ground balls and posting the best whiff rate of his minor league career.

I also noted that he could be one of the first call-ups in 2010 because his upper-90s heat could make him a valuable piece in the bullpen. When he struggled at the start of the season, I didn't think he had a chance to be called up.

Luckily for him, he put together his best start of the season right around when the Yankees needed to add another pitcher. In his last AAA start before being called up, Sanchez pitched seven innings and gave up only one earned run while striking out eight and walking just one.

The Yankees called Sanchez up and he certainly did his job last night. River Ave Blues called him "the unsung hero" of the game, giving the Yankees' bullpen a night off.

Here is how he did it:

With Romulo, the first thing to notice is always the velocity. He hit 98 on two pitches and averaged over 95 with his four seamer. That's the norm for him, and that is the pitch he works off of. He even generated some swinging strikes with it last night on two pitches outside of the strike zone.

None of his secondary offerings are really anything to write home about, but his changeup does have a nice velocity difference than his fastball, and that makes it an effective pitch for Sanchez.

Hopefully, Sanchez can make himself an effective piece in the Yankees bullpen. With his fastball, I don't see any reason that he can't be an above average reliever in the major leagues. He just has to become more consistent and keep the walks down. He didn't do that at the start of the season, but giving up just two walks in his last 11 innings is an encouraging sign.