Sanabria flirts with perfection for Bandits
In the relatively large dugout at Perfect Game Field on Tuesday night, Carlos Sanabria found a secluded spot during his bid for, well, perfection. But unlike many pitchers in the same situation, he found time to socialize."You just have to find with every guy what they need to do in
In the relatively large dugout at Perfect Game Field on Tuesday night, Carlos Sanabria found a secluded spot during his bid for, well, perfection. But unlike many pitchers in the same situation, he found time to socialize.
"You just have to find with every guy what they need to do in order to stay physically ready and mentally focused to go back out there," Class A Quad Cities pitching coach Drew French said. "He would get up and walk and congratulate teammates when they scored, but for the most part he just sat there by himself and channeled his focus and his attack plans for the next three hitters he was going to face."
The Astros prospect kept his focus in check as he carried a perfect game into the seventh in the River Bandits' 8-2 win at Cedar Rapids. Sanabria ended up allowing two runs on three hits and a walk with seven strikeouts over a career-high 6 2/3 innings.
Gameday box score
"He was able to get some early contact and in the at-bats that went a little deeper in terms of pitch counts, he was able to be really unpredictable, especially 2-2 and 3-2 counts," French said. "He was just making really quality pitches early on in at-bats, so he was able to have two 11-pitch innings, a six-pitch inning and a seven-pitch inning."
Coming off a tough start in which he was dominant until a five-run fifth against Peoria on May 24, Sanabria (1-2) and French had a game plan to avoid a big inning.
"We just focused on fastball command," French said. "We just really tried to have a quality, clean delivery and be able to repeat that delivery with all his pitches and having confidence in lining all those pitches up in the strike zone and just trusting that the movement and his ability to use them in different counts was going to breed some success for him."
Sanabria used that strategy -- and a quiet spot in the dugout -- to retire the first 18 Kernels. The 20-year-old induced six groundouts and seven flyouts to go with the strikeouts, which tied his career high.
"They had a lefty-heavy lineup, so his changeup was really, really effective versus those guys," the pitching coach said, "and just made quality pitches, located fastballs early in the count, had command of his fastball pretty much all night."
French only saw two mistakes by his starter, both of which came as he pitched in the seventh inning for the first time since signing with the Astros in 2014. Ariel Montesino broke up the bid on the first pitch of the frame with a double that center fielder Daz Cameron appeared to "lose in the lights or lose off the bat." While the bid for history was over, the pitching coach felt Sanabria was still perfect.
Jermaine Palacios homered to left on the next pitch and Lewin Diaz doubled to left. French and manager Russ Steinhorn decided they wanted to let the right-hander escape his own jam. Sanabria got two quick outs, but a four-pitch walk to Hank Morrison pushed his pitch count to 82 and ended his outing.

"I shook his hand, I gave him a big hug and I told him good job," French said. "Really great job in executing what our plan was and being able to take his practice this week and do that in the game, which is a lot more difficult than people understand. It just speaks to his intelligence and his ability to take coaching and to take it out there and execute it at a high level."
Sanabria started the season in extended spring training, with the promise of being called up before long. With promotions trickling down, the Venezuela native was among the first to be assigned to Quad Cities.
Reliever Abdiel Saldana got the final out in the seventh to seal Sanabria's first Midwest League win in his first "solo start" following two piggyback outings.
"I think his mentality is, 'I'm just going to take the ball and go until they tell me I'm not going back out there,'" French said.
Astros No. 14 prospectYordan Alvarez and No. 19 prospect Ronnie Dawson each collected three hits, while Osvaldo Duarte, Marcos Almonte and Taylor Jones drove in two runs apiece for the River Bandits.
Kelsie Heneghan is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow her on Twitter @Kelsie_Heneghan.
Here are the 2025 All-Spring Breakout Teams
Fifteen games, several jersey swaps and countless highlights later, the second edition of Spring Breakout has officially concluded – and it lived up to its billing. Of the 16 contests sprinkled across four days, only one game (Dodgers vs. Cubs) was rained out. Coincidentally, the Cubs were one of two
Rox young sluggers aim to bring pop back to Coors Field
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Coors Field may provide the best run-scoring environment in Major League Baseball, but the Rockies haven’t taken advantage of it in recent years. Even without adjusting for Coors, they have fielded offenses worse than the league average the past three seasons, and they scored the fewest runs
Astros brass sees potential in consistently 'underranked' farm system
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The last time the Astros landed in the top 10 of MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings was before the 2019 season. Since those rankings expanded to all 30 teams ahead of the 2020 season -- 11 lists in total -- they’ve never ranked higher than
Complete results and highlights from Spring Breakout
The second edition of MLB Spring Breakout is complete, and there was no shortage of highlights from the future stars of Major League Baseball over the four-day showcase. Here's a complete breakdown of the 16-game exhibition:
Southpaw Spring Breakout: White Sox future on display with Schultz, Smith
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If all goes as planned for the White Sox, left-handers Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz won’t spend much time following each other to the mound in a single game. Schultz, the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline, and Smith, who is
In first pro game, Rainer offers pop, promise to Tigers fans
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Bryce Rainer’s pro career consisted of workouts and batting practice until Sunday.
'Me and Brady on the dirt again': House, King reunite at Spring Breakout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The 2025 Spring Breakout was a flashback for Brady House and Seaver King. Over 10 years ago, the infielders were travel ball teammates in Georgia who shared the dream of making it to the Major Leagues. Now, they are top prospects in the same organization,
Lambert -- 'an adrenaline guy' -- hoping to be next Mets bullpen gem
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Ryan Lambert loves throwing hard. He relishes the idea of getting to two strikes and blowing hitters away. “Get me in a game,” Lambert said, “cool things will happen.”
Stewart embraces Spring Breakout: 'What's not to love?'
PHOENIX -- Sal Stewart was one fired-up Reds prospect. On Sunday in the first inning during the organization's 9-7 Spring Breakout win over Brewers prospects, Stewart lifted a 2-2 pitch that sailed over the center fielder's head to the wall. Already not known as a speedster, he stumbled running between
Prospect Peña quietly drawing raves in Brewers' farm system
PHOENIX – Jesús Made was at the top of the Brewers’ lineup for Sunday’s 9-7 loss to the Reds in the finale of MLB’s four-day Spring Breakout, a fitting perch when you consider that the 17-year-old infielder is under a bright spotlight as MLB Pipeline’s No. 55 prospect. Made could
Brecht -- in 1st outing since '24 Draft -- wows at Spring Breakout
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Sunday's Spring Breakout showcase was the perfect unveiling for Rockies No. 5 prospect Brody Brecht. A right-handed pitcher from the University of Iowa whom the Rockies selected 38th overall last summer, Brecht had a nice collegiate resume, an interesting backstory as a former wide receiver for the
Braves prospects show promise in Spring Breakout
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- As Terry Pendleton prepared to serve as the manager of the Braves prospect team that played the Tigers prospect team in a Spring Breakout game on Sunday afternoon, he said fans should be patient with John Gil and Luis Guanipa, a pair of teenagers who have
Yanks' Lagrange flashes triple-digit heat in Spring Breakout
SARASOTA, Fla. -- There was an audible “Ooh” from the crowd at Ed Smith Stadium, and Carlos Lagrange quickly glanced beyond the right-field wall, checking the velocity of the pitch he’d just thrown in Saturday’s 5-4 Spring Breakout loss to the Orioles. It had registered in the triple digits, and
Bradfield dedicates Spring Breakout performance to late friend
SARASOTA, Fla. -- It was about more than playing in the national spotlight. More than the dinner bet placed with an old college teammate earlier in the month. More than a game. As Enrique Bradfield Jr. slid home to score a run during the first inning of Saturday night’s Spring
'Hungry' Alcántara hoping to pounce on big league prey in '25
MESA, Ariz. -- The thing about jaguars is, you don’t want to see one when it’s hungry. So when Cubs legend Sammy Sosa spoke to the organization’s No. 6 prospect per MLB Pipeline -- and the No. 89 prospect overall -- the former slugger gave him some apt advice. “His
Rainiers broadcaster Pay talks historic role on MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Prospect Santos 'electric' in Spring Breakout start
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Malcolm Moore knew Winston Santos was locked in before he even threw a pitch. In the second annual Spring Breakout game, Santos -- the Rangers’ No. 5 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- was throwing to Moore, the Rangers’ No. 4 prospect and highest-ranked catcher. The battery more
Switch-pitcher Cijntje deals from both sides in Spring Breakout
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Jurrangelo Cijntje knew who’d be waiting for him in the batter’s box when he emerged from the visiting bullpen on Friday evening. The Mariners’ switch-pitcher had seen Guardians infielder Travis Bazzana recently at a card-signing event, to which they each joked, “I’m going to see you soon,”
Fans in this Minor League town are hungry for ... the Spicy Meatballs?!?
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Chandler adds mix to upper-90s heat in stellar Spring Breakout start
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- In the inaugural Spring Breakout game a year ago, as he was coming out to pitch the ninth inning, Bubba Chandler slammed a Red Bull and declared “let’s do this” before pumping upper-90s heat.