Phils promote top pitching prospect Sanchez

Playing his first season under the lights, Sixto Sanchez has aced every test. He's about to get a new one.
Philadelphia promoted its top pitching prospect from Class A Lakewood to Class A Advanced Clearwater on Saturday, and the 19-year-old right-hander is scheduled to start the Threshers' game against the Cardinals in Palm Beach.

After combining to go 6-2 with a 1.81 ERA over 22 games -- 13 starts -- across the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League and Gulf Coast Leagues over 2015 and 2016, Sanchez continued to cruise in the South Atlantic League this season. He went 5-3 with a 2.41 ERA over 13 starts for the BlueClaws, holding opposing hitters to a .191 batting average.

"It almost gets to a point where he almost gets, I don't want to say bored, but he's competed so well that he's able to work on different things, which is important for him, like his slider and his changeup," Lakewood pitching coach Brian Sweeney said after Sanchez's last start.
"When you're coming with a 100 mph fastball, it's pretty easy to just use that, but now as he's settling in, he's using all of his pitches and learning how to build outs."
The No. 52 overall prospect works comfortably in the mid-90s, and he's walked a total of 23 over 147 professional innings.
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The Phillies also promoted Franklyn Kilomé -- their No. 9 prospect -- from the Threshers to the Double-A Fightin Phils. He was 6-4 with a 2.49 ERA -- third in the Florida State League -- over 19 starts.