The Marlins were among six clubs to watch free-agent right-hander Aníbal Sánchez throw at Florida International University on Friday, according to a report by MLB Network insider Jon Heyman. The 37-year-old veteran reached 92 mph on the radar gun. In 2020, his four-seamer averaged 90.2 mph.

Sánchez, who has spent 15 seasons in the big leagues, began his career with the Marlins from 2006-12. He is 112-113 with a 4.05 ERA in 350 games (327 starts), and played the past two seasons for the Nationals, winning the World Series in 2019.

The Marlins have four right-handers rehabbing from injuries: No. 3 starter Elieser Hernandez, No. 4 starter Sixto Sánchez, MLB Pipeline's No. 59 overall prospect Edward Cabrera (Triple-A level) and Miami's No. 29 prospect Jorge Guzman (Double-A level). Rookies Daniel Castano and Nick Neidert have filled in, though the latter was optioned to the alternate training site. Asked on Wednesday whether the starting-pitching depth being tested early on has created a sense of urgency to look for external options to fill the void, general manager Kim Ng had this to say:

"We have faith in the guys that weren't part of those top five [of Sandy Alcantara, Pablo López, Hernandez, Sánchez and Trevor Rogers], talking about our farm system and guys that came up last year and got experience and got those innings under their belts," Ng said. "I think it was really important for us to stay within the organization at this point, and really look to those guys to try and use their experiences from last year to come in and try and help us, and obviously pitching this year to get more experience. We think it was really important for that to happen."

Still, it doesn't hurt to check in on Sánchez, who has been training in Miami. Rumors about him and the Marlins have circulated since the offseason. In early March, the organization signed Gio González to a Minor League deal with the hope the veteran southpaw could provide innings for a young starting staff coming off an atypical year of development because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the Hialeah, Fla., native retired toward the end of camp.

What's next for Pop?

Right-hander Zach Pop hasn't given up a run in four of his six appearances to begin his big league career, including two perfect innings in Thursday night's 3-0 loss to the Giants at Oracle Park. It marked the first time he has recorded more than three outs in a game. The Rule 5 Draft selection also has tallied two straight clean outings with five strikeouts since giving up a go-ahead three-run homer to Braves pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval on April 15.

Asked whether Pop could find himself in high-leverage situations if he keeps this up, manager Don Mattingly noted the club has a reliable veteran right-handed trio of Yimi García, Anthony Bass and Dylan Floro. However, Pop turning in performances like Thursday would protect those guys from overuse.

"He's a young pitcher, Rule 5, but if he can do this, then he's a real dude and you're not having to protect him and try to carry him," Mattingly said Thursday. "You don't look at it like that, you look at like, 'I can bring this guy in a run down or two runs down.' He keeps us in a ballgame like tonight, it gives us a chance to win, because there's going to be nights where we're able to come back and score some runs. If he can do what he's doing tonight, and on a fairly consistent basis, he just makes our bullpen stronger. And that's what we need from him."

According to Statcast, Pop ranks in the 96th percentile in whiff percentage (40%), 80th in chase rate (31.3%) and 84th in average exit velocity (85.7 mph). Both his sinker and slider show above-average vertical movement. The 24-year-old righty credited tweaks to his delivery for both his recent success and initial failure. In his second outing, he surrendered a grand slam to Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson on April 7 after walking two batters and hitting another.

"I got rid of my high leg kick that I had in Spring Training, so I was trying to find a suitable delivery kind of being quicker to the plate," Pop said earlier in the week. "I got some inconsistency problems early on, so we're just trying to fix that and trying to be more consistent moving forward with the delivery. Once that's the same, it'll be easier to make pitches and [have] less missed spots."

He said it

"'Just play hard and do your thing. It's the same game but a bit faster. You have to learn how to control it. The most important thing is enjoy the game. That's it.'" -- José Devers, on what his cousin Rafael Devers of the Red Sox told him after he received the callup on Thursday