Well-regarded Mariners pitching prospect Victor Sanchez is in critical condition after a boat’s propeller struck him in the head while he was swimming Friday in his home country of Venezuela, according to the latest report from lavinotinto.com
The Mariners had no comment Tuesday because of federal health laws regarding privacy. They are monitoring the situation.
The Lavinotinto report said Sanchez had surgery to remove part of his cranium — a craniectomy — and had drained hemotomas, collections of blood outside the blood vessels, after his skull was fractured, among other injuries.
According to MLB sources, Sanchez remains at a local hospital after the accident at a beach near Carupano, VZ. A Mariners employee based in the region was sent to be with him Saturday. Sanchez was in critical but stable condition as of Sunday afternoon. Dr. Rolando Cobis, who performed the surgery at Polyclinic Campano, said the 20-year-old is “still fighting for his life,” and that there’s “vital danger to him.”
A six-foot, 255-pound, right-hander, Sanchez went 7-6 with a 4.19 ERA in 23 starts last season with Double-A Jackson. Prior to the accident, he was expected to report to minor league spring training camp.
He was signed in 2011 out of Rio Chico, VZ., when he was 16. The reported signing bonus was $2.5 million.
2 Comments
I thought of Steve Olin of the Indians when he was in a fatal boating accident and how it affected the organization when I heard of this. Praying for a successful recovery for Victor.
Tim Crews as well