It has come to this in the tumultuous season for Royals left-hander Jonathan Sanchez: Even FOX Sports KansasCity broadcaster Rex Hudler seems to have seen enough of him.
"I don't think you can send him out there anymore," Hudler said on Kansas City radio station WHB Monday morning.
Sanchez, in his first season with the Royals after being traded from the San Francisco Giants, is 1-4 with a 6.80 ERA. He hasn't won a game since April 8.
Worse yet, Sanchez has been a momentum killer for the Royals. The team has lost seven of Sanchez's 10 starts, and a recent four-game winning streak was halted Saturday in Minnesota when Sanchez gave up 10 hits, six walks and six runs in a 7-2 loss. After a promising start in Minnesota, the Royals lost three of four games.
"I just think he is hurting the team," Hudler added.
Sanchez also has drawn heat from Royals fans for his perceived lack of concern after poor performances.
And on Saturday, Sanchez fueled that fan anger by forgetting to cover home plate, allowing a slow-footed runner to score all the way from second base after an infield hit was fielded by catcher Brayan Pena.
That prompted Hudler to say he would have liked to have seen Sanchez cover home plate just so the runner could have "put him out."
"That would have been a beautiful thing," Hudler said, somewhat jokingly.
Hudler isn't the only one puzzled by Sanchez's demeanor.
Royals Hall of Famer George Brett questioned Sanchez's resolve recently on radio station KCSP after Sanchez was lit up by the Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium.
"I wish he had more fire," Brett said. "I played with pitchers that were battlers, that were gamers, and they would go in the dugout and throw their glove down and throw their hat down and get mad. He just kind of walked in the dugout (during the Cardinals game) and laid his glove on the bench and sat there. I wish he had a little more fire, a little more determination. Hopefully he will someday, someday in the near future. But right now it’s frustrating watching him pitch."
Sanchez, in fact, was spotted laughing in the dugout after a recent poor performance, which further outraged Royals fans on call-in shows and in newspaper comments sections.
Sanchez, though, said last week that the perception that he doesn't care is inaccurate.
"Sure, I care," he told FOXSportsKansasCity.com. "We're human beings. Sure it's frustrating. Sure it hurts. No one wants to go through this. Every single player goes through this at some time.
"We all want to win. People that don't think we care don't know baseball. They don't know how much work we go through. We work all year and get maybe two weeks off. The rest of the time you work on getting better. We spend all winter, training to get better.
"So yes, we care and want to win. But we're humans. We're not robots. You can't just throw it the same way every pitch. No one can."
Sanchez, though, has rarely been able to find the strike zone for the Royals, who gave up 2012 National League All-Star Melky Cabrera for him.
In 46 1/3 innings, Sanchez has walked 40 hitters and also hit five batters while giving up 52 hits.
Royals manager Ned Yost and general manager Dayton Moore have stood by Sanchez through his horrific outings.
"He's struggled with his command," Yost said. "But at times he's shown he can deliver good pitches."
Though fans have been crying for weeks for Sanchez to be removed from the rotation, Moore said the Royals are not prepared to make that move.
"Right now, it's a matter of not having better options," Moore said last week. "We plan on sending him back out there every fifth day."
Sanchez is scheduled to start again on Friday at Detroit.
