CPBL Foreign Players Updates Volume #267
Uni-Lions News: Mario Sanchez
On January 31, the Uni-Lions announced the signing of 28-year-old Venezuelan right-hander Mario Sanchez. According to the team, Sanchez is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan around mid-February.
Mario Sanchez began his professional career in 2012 with the Washinton Nationals system. He never made it to the major but managed to reach Triple-A during his time in the MLB system.
Out of his three Triple-A seasons, Mario Sanchez compiled a career ERA of 5.32 and 1.30 WHIP over 113.1 innings. In 2022, he spent the entire season in the Twins’ Triple-A team and recorded a 4.24 ERA and 1.13 across 91.1 innings.
Prior to his signing with the Uni-Lions, Mario Sanchez was active in the Venezuelan Winter League, playing for the Aguilas del Zulia. In over 56.2 innings, he posted a dominating 2.38 ERA and 0.90 WHIP, leading the league in both innings pitched and ERA.
As of today, the Uni-Lions currently have Brock Dykxhoorn, Logan Ondrusek, Keyvius Sampson and Mario Sanchez as their foreign players.
Further Readings
Foreign players comes and goes, therefore we compiled a foreign players tracker to keep track of all the foreign players signing for the 2023 CPBL season.
I like this signing. Sanchez is still young, and he pitched well enough in AAA last year that I thought he would be pitching in AAA again in 2023, particularly after he pitched well in Venezuela this winter. Dykxhoorn, Ondrusek and Sampson all have histories of injuries, so there is a good chance Sanchez will get his opportunities to show what he can do in 2023.