April 30, 2024 9:52 AM : Sanchez was benched in favor of Dane Myers during the third inning of Monday's loss to the Nationals, Christina DeNicola of MLB.com reports.
Analysis: The 26-year-old got the start in right field but misjudged a looping single into the gap by Alex Call, backpedaling to take the hop and then turning to joke with center fielder Jazz Chisholm about it. The lapse in attention not only allowed Call to stretch his hit into a double, it led to a thumb injury for shortstop Tim Anderson as he tried to apply the tag at second base. Manager Skip Schumaker then pinch hit for Sanchez in the bottom of the frame as part of a double switch, with Vidal Brujan taking over for Anderson. "I have literally no rules except for giving me everything you have," Schumaker said after the game. "He lost the ball in the lights. I've lost the ball in the lights many times. After that, I felt like the effort wasn't there, and so I decided to remove him from the game." The gaffe doesn't seem like it will impact Sanchez's role or workload, and the message from his manager seemed to have been received. "It was just the matter of I disrespected all my teammates," Sanchez said. "That's one of the things that actually I was not feeling well [about], because it's a terrible feeling. And I know that I'm an important piece of the team that I could help, and I took myself out of the game." Sanchez is slashing .239/.282/.328 through 24 games with two homers and a career-high four steals.