Former Washington Nationals starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez. Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Ex-World Series champion pitcher announces his retirement

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated 5/16/23

One veteran pitcher is putting down the rosin bag for good.

Longtime MLB right-hander Anibal Sanchez announced to social media on Tuesday that he is retiring from baseball after 16 career seasons. Now 39, Sanchez had gone unsigned to this point of the 2023 MLB campaign.

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A post shared by Anibal Sanchez (@anibalsanchez19)

Sanchez played for the Marlins, the Tigers, the Braves, and the Nationals during his career. His best season came with the Tigers in 2013 when he led the AL with a 2.57 ERA and finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting.

Sanchez then went on to get a World Series ring with the Nationals in 2019, winning 12 games for them that year (including a dominant performance against the Cardinals in Game 1 of the NLCS).

The Venezuela native Sanchez also famously pitched a no-hitter as a rookie for the Marlins in 2006.

"HE DID IT! HE DID IT!"

Marlins rookie Aníbal Sánchez threw his no-hitter 15 years agohttps://t.co/uqS0tboQY8 pic.twitter.com/q4k4tDSZZt

— Fish Stripes (@fishstripes) September 6, 2021

Sanchez didn’t have that great of an end to his career, posting a 4.22 ERA in 2022 for the Nationals after missing significant time with a neck issue.

But he will be remembered for both his skill as well as his class and can now enjoy the next chapter of his life.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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