Sanchez secures Pitcher of the Week honor

As one of the top arms in the Minor Leagues, Sixto Sanchez has a chance to dominate every time he takes the ball.

That's exactly what the Phillies' No. 1 prospect did Sunday for Class A Advanced Clearwater, tossing seven shutout innings with five strikeouts in the first game of a doubleheader sweep for the Threshers. Sanchez rode the performance to a Florida State League Pitcher of the Week award.

MLB.com's No. 24 overall prospect allowed only four baserunners during his outing, erasing two of them via double plays in his final two innings. Sanchez needed just 72 pitches -- including 56 strikes -- to go the distance.

• View the Offensive Player of the Week winners »

An inconsistent start to the season left Sanchez with a 4.71 ERA on May 5. Following Sunday, that number sits at 2.51. The right-hander has allowed two earned runs over his last six starts (25 2/3 innings). Clearwater pitching coach Aaron Fultz credited this recent success to the development of Sanchez's slider as an effective way to keep hitters off-balance.

"I think it's a product of them not being able to sit on one pitch," Fulz told MiLB.com. "They're not able to sit on the fastball like they were in the past. Now they react instead."

This isn't the first weekly award of the 19-year-old's career. He won South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week honors with Class A Lakewood last season.

"The only bad thing is that it means I may lose him soon," Fultz lamented. "I don't know if we have plans to move him anytime. If he throws like he does in the last couple, he's going to need a new challenge."

Below is the complete list of Pitcher of the Week winners for May 28 to June 3. Honorees include Cleveland prospect Adam Plutko, who tossed a no-hitter for Triple-A Columbus last week, and Logan Allen and Jason Jester, a pair of Padres prospects who combined for a no-no of their own with Double-A San Antonio.

League	Player	Team	MLB	Stats
International	Adam Plutko	Columbus	CLE	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 1 SHO, 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
Pacific Coast	Conner Menez	Sacramento	SF	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 HBP, 1 BB, 8 K
Eastern	Nabil Crismatt	Binghamton	NYM	2-0, 1.26 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 1 CG, 14 1/3 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 HBP, 6 BB, 9 K
Southern	Matt Tomshaw	Birmingham	CWS	1-1, 0.56 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 1 CG, 16 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 12 K
Texas	Logan Allen and Jason Jester	San Antonio	SD	Allen: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 7 K; Jester: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 0 GS, 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
California	Brian Howard	Stockton	OAK	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 5 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K
Carolina	Jonathan Hernandez	Down East	TEX	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 11 K
Florida State	Sixto Sanchez	Clearwater	PHI	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 1 SHO, 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Midwest	Zack Draper	Lake County	CLE	0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
South Atlantic	Will Stewart	Lakewood	PHI	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 1 SHO, 9 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K