Patriots regular season continues through Sunday, Sept. 15. For information, visit www.somersetpatriots.com.
Yunesky Sanchez has returned to the Somerset Patriots in the independent Atlantic League.
Sanchez left the Bridgewater-based Patriots in May to play in the Mexican Leagues for Oaxaca and finished with a .346 batting average, 84 hits, nine doubles, six home runs and 43 RBI in 62 games played.
Sanchez was the Atlantic League “Player of the Month” for April. He was leading the league with a .381 batting average, 16 hits, five home runs and 15 RBI in 10 games during the month before signing to play for Oaxaca.
Sanchez hit .274 with 84 hits, 14 doubles, seven home runs and 38 RBI in 77 games in Somerset last season.
He played for Spain in the World Baseball Classic this past March and hit .636 in three games.
He spent parts of the 2011 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization at the Double-A level, as well as the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. With the Pirates he batted .299 with 40 hits and 18 RBI in 42 games. With the Blue Crabs he had a .403 average with 93 hits, seven home runs and 40 RBI in 61 games played.
In 2010 he batted .284 with 96 hits, 18 doubles, seven home runs and 52 RBI in 105 games at the Triple-A level for the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.
Sanchez has a career .301 batting average with 743 hits, 111 doubles, 14 triples, 40 home runs and 288 RBI in 670 games.
In other team news, right-handed pitcher Brad Thompson has announced his retirement.
Thompson finished the 2013 season with a 6-6 record, a 4.99 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 124.1 innings in 19 games started for the Patriots.
Before joining the Patriots, Thompson had major league experience with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals. In his first season in the majors in 2005, Thompson was 4-0 with a 2.95 ERA, a save and 29 strikeouts in 55 innings pitched in 40 games for the Cardinals.
In his first three seasons with the Cardinals, Thompson appeared in more than 40 games each season and posted a 13-8 record. In 2007, Thompson finished 8-6 and pitched 129.1 innings in 44 games, 17 as a starter.
He last appeared in 16 games in the major leagues in 2010 with the Royals. Thompson has a major league career 21-21 record, a 4.46 ERA and 190 strikeouts in 405.1 innings pitched in 201 games.
The Patriots regular season continues through Sunday, Sept. 15. For information, visit www.somersetpatriots.com.