ATLANTA -- Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp fans may want to circle the date. On April 26, Marlins top prospect Sixto Sanchez, a hard-throwing right-hander, is targeted to make his debut with the club.

Sanchez, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 27 overall prospect, is fine physically. But the Marlins are being extra careful with the 20-year-old, building up his arm strength in extended camp at the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex in Jupiter, Fla.

“Sixto is in his throwing program,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said on Sunday. “Once we acquired him, we sort of started him from day one, so we knew exactly where he was, and we could do the things delivery-wise that we wanted to get accomplished with him.”

The Marlins acquired Sanchez from the Phillies as part of the J.T. Realmuto trade. Sanchez dealt with elbow inflammation while at Class A Advanced Clearwater in 2018, logging 46 2/3 innings and going 4-3 with a 2.51 ERA in eight starts.

Due to his setback a season ago, the Marlins are playing it safe with their No. 1 prospect. Sanchez also will be on an innings limit.

When he makes his first appearance in Jacksonville, the plan is for him to be ready to go five innings. The Shrimp are expected to go to a six-man rotation when Sanchez arrives, which will help innings management with all of their pitching prospects.

Sanchez continues to get his work done at extended camp, throwing off the mound and facing batters. He’s also scheduled to pitch in extended camp games.

“Part of his throwing progression is he will throw competitive innings in extended,” Hill said. “He’s been great. He’s worked through his throwing progression. He’s off the mound now, and he’s being built up to ultimately join the Double-A rotation at the end of the month.”

Sergio good to go
Sergio Romo received a scare in the eighth inning of Saturday’s 4-2 win against the Braves at SunTrust Park. The veteran reliever was struck by a comebacker off the bat of Josh Donaldson.

The ball plunked Romo on his left palm, his glove hand. He scrambled for the ball and from the ground threw Donaldson out at first.

An X-ray taken after the game came back negative.

“I’m fine,” Romo said. “It hurts. It’s sore. It’s my glove hand.”

Romo actually came out for the ninth and recorded an out before Adam Conley came in and completed the save.

“We had X-rays yesterday. It was OK,” Romo said. “They’re saying it’s a bone contusion. I’ll be sore for a couple of days.”