Fake Teams Fantasy Player of the Day: Marlins Starter Anibal Sanchez

Back in September 2006, a little know starter named Anibal Sanchez threw a no-hitter in his 13th major league start. Not many pitchers have thrown more than one no-hitter, but Sanchez did his best to do so on Friday night. 

Sanchez threw 8 no-hit innings on Friday night vs the Colorado Rockies. He gave up an unearned run, one hit, walked 3 and struck out 9 in his attempt for his second no-no. A dropped throw by first baseman Gaby Sanchez allowed the Rockies to score their only run. 

Sanchez threw 123 pitches in the game, and threw first pitch strikes to only 14 of the 30 hitters he faced. For some reason, I thought that stat would be higher in a no-hit bid. He also induced 8 ground ball outs, and an excellent 17 swinging strikes. 

His record sits at 1-1 so far this season, with a 3.55 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and a 26-10 K/BB rate in 25 1/3rd innings pitched. Prior to Friday's start, Fangraphs says his K/9 has increased from 7.25 to 9.37, and his walk rate has increased as well, from 3.23 to 3.86, but his xFIP was sitting at 3.57, so he was pitching better than his ERA (5.51) told us prior to his start on Friday.

Last year, Sanchez won 13 games with a 3.55 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. I can see him duplicating his 2010 season this year.