SARASOTA, Fla. – Luis Sanchez is close to living out the dream his father had for him of playing major league baseball.
Sanchez, 21, is turning heads as a hard-throwing pitcher in the Baltimore Orioles organization.
Sanchez grew up in the Dominican Republic where he and his father watched a lot of baseball – and played it.
“Every opportunity that we had to practice, we would, whether it was at home or on the field,” the translator relayed for the Spanish speaking player at the team’s minor league facility. “It was always something that was around, something that my father made sure that I had every opportunity to practice whenever we could.”
Despite being away from home, his father will always be his number one supporter, whether he’s watching in the stands or not.
“My dad is always happy for me. He’s happy knowing I am advancing my career and living out my dream.”
Although Sanchez just celebrated his 21st birthday yesterday, the grind doesn’t stop for him. He spent the day at the Baltimore Orioles training facility in Twin Parks working on his technique.
“Here the focus is really to get the most out of yourself and prepare for the league and for the long season, but once you get to your team, it’s all about competition,” he said.
“It’s all about competing every day, you’re facing different batters every day, different person pitching every day and it’s all about keeping that focus and keeping that competitiveness.”
This is his second year at the training camp. He treats every game and practice like it’s his best one.
“It’s been a lot learning of how to progress, how to get to that next step and get to that next level I need to get.”
“We’ve seen another guy with a big fastball in Luis Sanchez topping out at 99 (mph), and that’s going to continue to climb since he’s previously touched triple digits during the season.” said Anthony Villa, Director of Player Development, “We’re excited for him to be in an explosive arm that can come out of the bullpen and shutting things down.”