Phillies Twitter is having a lot of fun with this post:

Damn. Sixto put on some pounds. He’s looking more like Bartolo Colon or CC Sabathia these days, which is understandable because he’s been on the shelf for so long.

The five-year anniversary of the Sixto/J.T. Realmuto trade was earlier this month, and Sanchez started in Triple A for the Marlins back in 2019. He got his Major League promotion in 2020 but has only pitched 39 innings since and had to have multiple right shoulder surgeries. The most recent picture I could find of him in some sort of live action goes back to March of 2021, during a spring training game against the Nationals:

Jim Rassol – USA Today Sports

What’s crazy is that he was a UFC heavyweight two years ago, according to this article from Christina De Nicola at MLB.com:

“Sánchez, who weighed as much as 260 pounds in 2022, has lost 46 pounds thanks to a disciplined diet and workout regimen. Once considered one of baseball’s top prospects (he was No. 15 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list entering the ’21 season), the 24-year-old hasn’t appeared in a game since Spring Training 2021 due to various shoulder ailments.”

If he’s down 46 pounds, that puts him right around 215 right now. That’s not overly large for a Major League Baseball pitcher. Jose Alvarado is the heaviest guy the Phils have, at 245 pounds. Aaron Nola weighs 200 and Zack Wheeler 195, according to the Phils’ website. Thing is, all three of those guys are 6’2″ or taller while Sixto is six feet flat, so he’s a little larger for his size. Ranger Suarez and Dylan Covey are the best height/weight comps currently on the roster.

Anyway, gotta be a little careful with these things, because body shaming is frowned upon in 2024. You’re “beautiful the way you are” and all of that. But on the flipside, Sixto pitches for a division rival now, so I hope he goes ballistic on some quarter pounders, balloons to 275, and can’t get through the first inning without running out of breath.