The Diamondbacks claimed outfielder Jesus Sanchez off waivers on Monday, Sept. 14, adding another left-handed bat to a position-player group that has struggled against right-handed pitching.
Sanchez, who is expected to join the team on Tuesday, Sept. 15, will not be eligible for the postseason, but general manager Mike Hazen said the club is looking to jump-start the offense against righties.
“It’s been an area of struggle for us this year, and most of the internal guys that we have to call up, they’re all right-handed,” Hazen said. “I think the additions of Pavin (Smith) and now Jesus are a way for us to try to spark the offense a little bit from the left-handed side.
"We face all righties all the way through, pretty much, projecting it out —
unless something changes — and so we're looking for any sparks that we can get.”
Sanchez, 28, hit .260/.318/.416 with eight homers in 269 at-bats for the Toronto Blue Jays before being designated for assignment on Friday, Sept. 11. He hit .276/.333/.448 against right-handed pitching.
Manager Torey Lovullo said he planned to use Sanchez strictly as a designated hitter. That likely would push Smith, whom the Diamondbacks added back to the roster over the weekend, to first base. Assuming Lars Nootbaar gets the bulk of the starts in left field the rest of the season, that would leave center field for Jordan Lawlar, Ryan Waldschmidt and Tommy Troy.
The Diamondbacks placed Sanchez on their 40-man roster but will need to find room for him on their active roster once he reports.
Hazen said he was thankful that Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick approved the addition of Sanchez, who will cost the club $420,000 and will be able to play in, at most, only 11 games the rest of the season.
Marlins at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34
Diamondbacks RHP Corbin Burnes (0-0, 0.00) vs. Marlins RHP Sandy Alcantara (13-10, 3.78).
At Chase Field: Burnes tossed three scoreless innings against the Royals in his first start since June 2025. He underwent Tommy John surgery last year and then was delayed further by a shoulder issue. … Burnes gave up two hits, walked two and struck out two against the Royals. He averaged 92.7 mph with his cutter, down from last year’s 94.1 mph average. … Burnes threw 57 pitches and is expected to build his pitch count to at least 70 in this one. … Alcantara missed all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery. The NL Cy Young winner in 2022, he hasn't been able to recapture that form since, but he is back to eating innings at a prolific rate. He enters this start with 200 innings through 31 starts. … In six starts against the Diamondbacks, Alcantara has a 4.42 ERA. He last faced them last season and gave up seven runs in six innings.
Coming up
Tuesday, Sept. 15: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Michael Soroka (8-5, 3.53) vs. Marlins RHP Janson Junk (6-9, 4.54).
Wednesday, Sept. 16: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (9-13, 4.97) vs. Marlins RHP Ryan Gusto (1-5, 4.14).
Thursday, Sept. 17: Off.
Friday, Sept. 18: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (7-3, 3.77) vs. Yankees RHP Gerrit Cole (8-9, 3.67).
(This story has been updated to add information.)
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Marlins at Diamondbacks live updates. Veteran lefty hitter claimed
