Why Juan Sánchez’s Surprising Rise to No. 41 Could Change Everything in the Community Prospect List

Our next name is a player we just might see in that aforementioned Saturday game, as he’s in camp as a non-roster invitee: it’s left-handed reliever Juan Sánchez, who earns the vote as the No. 41 prospect in the system. That’s a drop of eight spots for Sánchez, who came in at No. 33 last year.

It’s been a long and winding road for Sánchez, who is one of the longest tenured players in the organization. Despite having only recently turned 25, Sánchez is entering his 10th year with the Giants, after signing in international free agency in 2017 out of Venezuela. That said, it’s only his seventh year actually pitching: he didn’t pitch in 2017 due to the timing of the DSL schedule and the international signing period back then; he didn’t throw in 2020 as Minor League Baseball was cancelled due to Covid; and he lost all of 2025 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

But when he has pitched, the crafty southpaw has been quite successful. After a brief stint as a starter, Sánchez started to rise the ranks as a reliever starting in 2021. He really took off in 2023, when he posted a 2.39 ERA and a 3.17 FIP with AA Richmond, despite being nearly two-and-a-half years younger than the average pitcher in the Eastern League. He ended the year by holding his own in AAA Sacramento as a 22-year old, where he was more than five years younger than his peers.

Questions persisted about Sánchez’s ability to get outs at the Major League level, as he didn’t possess too much heat with his fastball. But he showed up to his first Spring Training in 2024 looking like a new man, with a notable uptick in velocity, and results that opened eyes. Sánchez was the talk of camp at times and, were it not for roster logistics — he wasn’t on the 40-man roster, and Rule 5 protection Erik Miller was — he might have made the Opening Day roster.