Aníbal Alejandro Sánchez Jr. (Spanish: [aˈniβal ˈsantʃes]; born February 27, 1984) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2006 with the Florida Marlins and also played for the Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, and Washington Nationals. On September 6, 2006, in his 13th career Major League start, Sánchez pitched a no-hitter against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Sánchez was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an international free agent in 2001. After playing in the Venezuelan Summer League for two seasons, Sánchez suffered an elbow injury that required surgery to move his elbow ligament, causing him to miss the entire 2003 season.
In the following year, he returned to the mound, this time making his debut on American soil with the short-season Single-A Lowell Spinners. In 15 starts, Sánchez posted a 3–4 record with a 1.77 earned run average (ERA), and by the end of the year was widely considered one of Boston's top pitching prospects. After the 2004 season, Baseball America named Sánchez Boston's fifth-best prospect, behind shortstop Hanley Ramírez, outfielder Brandon Moss, and pitchers Jonathan Papelbon and Jon Lester. By 2006, Ramírez, Papelbon, and Lester had all played in the majors; Moss was selected as the Portland Sea Dogs most valuable player in 2006.
2005 saw the young prospect starting the season off in Wilmington, Boston's High-A ball affiliate. After posting a 6–1 record with a 2.40 ERA, receiving a selection for the All-Star Futures Game, and making the Carolina League All-Star team, he was promoted to the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. Sánchez got off to a hot start there, but tired toward the end of the season, creating some concern about his durability. Still, Sánchez put up a 3.45 ERA over 11 starts in his first year in Double-A; at 21 years old, he was still one of the youngest players in his league.
At the end of the 2005 season, Boston traded Sánchez along with Hanley Ramírez, Jesús Delgado, and Harvey García to the Florida Marlins, in the same transaction that brought Josh Beckett, Guillermo Mota, and Mike Lowell to the Red Sox. In addition to Beckett and Lowell, the Marlins traded several of their other star players after the 2005 season, including Carlos Delgado, Juan Pierre, Paul Lo Duca, and Luis Castillo, for mainly minor-league prospects. Baseball America ranked Sánchez third in the Marlins system (after Jeremy Hermida and Ramirez) and 40th overall in the major leagues at the start of the 2006 season.
The Marlins started six rookies in their Opening Day lineup in 2006, but elected to have Sánchez return to Class AA to start the season with the Carolina Mudcats. Sánchez made his first 15 starts in 2006 with Mudcats, for whom he posted a 3–6 record with a 3.15 ERA. While with Carolina, he pitched two complete games, one of which was a seven-hit shutout.
On June 25, he was called up to the majors to start the second half of a doubleheader in Yankee Stadium against the Yankees. Sánchez's major league debut was a strong one, as he allowed seven hits and no runs in 52⁄3 innings against the Yankees. He then turned the game over to his bullpen, which blanked the Yankees the rest of the way, shutting out the Yankees for the first time all year, 5–0. Sánchez became just the second visiting starter in the past decade to win his big-league debut at Yankee Stadium (fellow Venezuelan Gustavo Chacín of the Toronto Blue Jays, who beat the Yankees in September 2004, is the other). On July 14, the 22-year-old Sánchez started against and defeated Houston Astros pitcher Roger Clemens, who made his MLB debut when Sánchez was just three months old.
On September 6, 2006, Sánchez no-hit the Arizona Diamondbacks 2–0 at Dolphin Stadium. He walked four batters and struck out six, throwing 103 pitches. The Marlins, who used 21 rookies during the 2006 season, started six in Sánchez's no-hitter, setting the record for most rookies to play for the winning team in a no-hitter. The no-hitter was also the first thrown since Randy Johnson's perfect game on May 18, 2004, as 2005 saw no pitcher throw a no-hitter.
On September 27, Sánchez earned his tenth win against the Cincinnati Reds, joining teammates Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen, and Ricky Nolasco in the first set of four rookie teammates in MLB history to record ten or more wins in their rookie seasons. Marlins left-hander Dontrelle Willis had a record of 12–12, so with Sánchez's tenth win, the Marlins had their first set of five pitchers with ten or more wins in franchise history. He finished his first season with the Marlins with a record of 10–3 and an ERA of 2.83 in 18 major-league games (17 starts).
Before their game against the Philadelphia Phillies on September 30, the Marlins presented Sánchez with the pitching rubber and home plate used in his no-hitter. The Miami-Dade County Office of the Mayor and Board of County Commissioners officially named September 30, 2006, Aníbal Sánchez Day.
Sánchez suffered shoulder problems during spring training but still started 2007 with the Marlins, going 2–1 with a 4.80 ERA in six starts. When reliever Jorge Julio returned to the team from the disabled list on May 4, the Marlins demoted Sánchez to Class AAA Albuquerque, citing his struggles with control. On June 21, it was reported that his season was over after having Dr. James Andrews perform surgery to repair a tear in his labrum.
On July 31, 2008, Sánchez pitched his first Major League game in almost 15 months against the Colorado Rockies. He had a solid outing and pitched 5+2⁄3 innings while giving up two runs on six hits and striking out four. The Marlins went on to win that game 12–2, with Sánchez collecting his first win of the season.
Another shortened season limited Sánchez to 16 starts in 2009, but he saw improvements in his stats, finishing with a 3.87 ERA and his lowest WHIP and opponent's batting average since his rookie year.
2010 saw Sánchez finally get through a whole season, as he was the only Marlins' starter to stay in the starting rotation for the entire season. He set a career high in wins with 13, with a still-declining ERA of 3.55 and 195 innings pitched.
On April 22, he took another no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies before giving up a hit to Dexter Fowler. Sánchez finished the game for his fourth career complete game. Three starts later, Sánchez again took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Washington Nationals before losing it. Sánchez would also throw another complete game on May 26 against the San Francisco Giants, a 1–0 win that gave Sánchez his third career shutout. Sánchez would throw a one-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates, his fourth career shutout and second of the season, in early September. After starting the season 6–2, a lack of run support and injuries from the rest of the team led resulted in a 2–7 finish to the season.
Aníbal made 19 starts for the Miami Marlins in 2012, compiling a 5–7 record with a 3.94 ERA.
On July 23, 2012, Sánchez was traded to the Detroit Tigers along with Omar Infante for Jacob Turner, Rob Brantly, Brian Flynn and a draft pick. In 12 starts for the Tigers, he went 4–6 with a 3.74 ERA. The Tigers won the AL Central division, giving Sánchez a chance to play in the first postseason of his career.
In the 2012 ALDS against the Oakland Athletics, Sánchez started and lost Game 3 despite giving up two runs in 6+1⁄3 innings, as the Tigers offense did not score in the game. In Game 2 of the 2012 ALCS, Sánchez shut out the New York Yankees on three hits over seven innings, and earned the win in a 3–0 game. In Game 3 of the 2012 World Series, Sánchez struck out eight over seven innings, but took the loss in the Tigers 2–0 defeat to the San Francisco Giants. Overall, he went 1–2 in the 2012 postseason with a 1.77 ERA.