19 Anibal Sanchez, SP

Tigers starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez couldn't make it out of the third inning Saturday, allowing six runs (five earned) on nine hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings while striking out two. It was the first time this season Sanchez lasted fewer than five innings or allowed more than three earned runs.

Sanchez struck out 42 in his previous four starts (all quality starts). He'll look to rebound against the Twins next week.

Anibal Sanchez's 17-strikeout effort on April 26 was easy to dismiss because it came against the Braves, who tend to strike out a lot. But since then, the Tigers right-hander has struck out at least eight in each of his three starts. In fact, he has struck out at least eight in six of his eight starts this season.

Part of me wants to point out that hot starts are nothing out of the ordinary for him. He averaged 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings in his first six starts last year, which isn't far off from his 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings so far. But because he just seems to be more dominant this year, I decided to look at the PitchFX data.

It's a small sample, obviously, but Sanchez is throwing slightly harder than in past seasons and is emphasizing his changeup over his slider for the first time. It's been the more effective pitch throughout his career, so it could have something to do with his early-season dominance.

I still think he'll regress some, but I now rank him in the Shelby Miller-Lance Lynn class of starting pitchers at No. 33.

Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez made his seventh consecutive quality start on Monday night against the Astros. He allowed two runs on six hits over seven innings of work in a 7-2 win.

The right-hander gave up all of his damage in the third and faced just one batter over the minimum over his final four frames. He threw 77 of his 113 pitches for strikes.

Sanchez also struck out eight and walked one while earning his fourth win.

His next start is scheduled for Saturday against the Rangers.