Tony Sanchez (baseball)

Jorge Anthony Sanchez (born May 20, 1988) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Sanchez was the fourth overall pick in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft.

Early Career

High school

Sanchez was a three-time All-Dade County selection at Killian High School in Miami. He was team captain in 2005 and 2006, and led his team in every offensive category in 2006. Killian advanced to the Florida state finals in 2005.^[1]

College career

Sanchez has established himself as one of the most prolific hitters in Boston College Eagles baseball history. He ranks fifth all-time in home runs with 24 and runs batted in with 124, sixth in hits with 202 and eighth in runs with 125. In 2009, Sanchez ranked eighth in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in runs (63), ninth in home runs (14), tenth in doubles (19) and slugging percentage (.614), twelfth in total bases (140), 16th in batting (.346) and 17th in hits (79) and on-base percentage (.443). He has also thrown out the most runners in the conference this season, catching opponents stealing 19 times. His 63 runs this season are a Boston College single-season record breaking the previous record of 60 runs held by Steve Langone and Sean McGowan which has held since 1999. His 14 home runs are the third-most in a single season and his 79 hits are fourth.

Sanchez is one of three finalists for the 2009 Johnny Bench Award, presented to the nation's top collegiate catcher as well as being named to the 2009 Louisville Slugger All-America Third Team and tabbed as one of 30 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, presented to the nation's premier amateur baseball player. He was also the first player from Boston College to be voted to the All-ACC First Team.

Professional career

2009 MLB draft

Sanchez was selected 4th overall in the 2009 MLB draft. He is just the third catcher out of Boston College to be selected in the MLB Draft, and is the highest draft pick in Boston College history.^[2] Previously, Chris Lambert was the highest, taken 19th overall by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004.^[3] He was the first catcher taken in the 2009 draft and the second player to sign (behind Drew Storen with the Washington Nationals).

Pittsburgh Pirates

Sanchez made his professional debut for the Short-Season A State College Spikes on June 20, 2009.^[4] He played in four games for the Spikes before being promoted to the Single A, West Virginia Power. On March 8, 2010, Sanchez was the Opening Day starting catcher for the Bradenton Marauders, the Pirates High-Single A team, during their inaugural game.^[5] In November 2012, the Pirates added Sanchez to the 40 man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.^[6]

On June 21, 2013, Sanchez was officially recalled to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Tony Sanchez had his first major league hit on June 23, 2013, a double off of the Angels right hander Joe Blanton. However the ball that Tony hit for his first MLB hit got stuck in the scoreboard. After the Pirates finished batting, officials went out and retrieved the ball and gave it to Sanchez.^[7]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• BC Eagles Player Bio
• Tony Sanchez on Twitter