Jonathan Sanchez!

What an incredible game. Jonathan Sanchez throws a no-hitter, with no walks and 11 strikeouts. Couldn't happen to a more deserving guy, and it couldn't be more fascinating considering Sanchez's story this year.

For a while now, Sanchez has been a strikeout guy with tons of potential, but has never been able to fully realize it. He looked good as a starter through the first half of 2008, but then struggled throughout the second half of the year. In the offseason, his name came up in trade rumors (a trade for the Marlins' Jorge Cantu is the main one that comes to mind), but Brian Sabean decided to hang on to Sanchez and hope for the young pitcher to have a breakout year.

Unfortunately, that didn't quite happen. Sanchez pitched adequately. Nothing special, but good enough for a guy at the back end of a rotation. He seemed to regress over the year - giving up too many walks and too many runs, not being able to pitch past the fourth or fifth inning. In the span of a few weeks, his trade value went from "semi-untouchable" to "let's see if we can get someone good for him" to "worthless." By the end of June, he was 2-8 with an ERA around five and a half. He was pulled from the rotation and moved to bullpen. An unknown pitcher named Ryan Sadowski was called up from the minors to take his place. Sadowski only started his major league career by pitching thirteen scoreless innings and winning his first two games. Meanwhile, Sanchez pitched well out of the bullpen. His future with the Giants seemed wrapped up as a long reliever/spot starter, or as trade bait for anything of value.

But then Randy Johnson got hurt. He left last Sunday's game early with a shoulder strain and was placed on the 15-day DL. Without any other major league-ready options, the Giants inserted Sanchez back into the rotation in Johnson's place. At the very least, he was someone who could eat up at least five innings or so every five games. Or at the most, it was an opportunity for Sanchez to have a second chance as a starting pitcher and raise his stock with the team.

And did he ever.

Not only did he pitch well enough to redeem himself, but he pitched a friggin' no-hitter! Completely out of nowhere. Over the span of a few days, he went from bullpen exile to being the star of the team. And if that's not heartwarming enough, his dad was in the crowd to watch it happen and give his son a big hug afterward.

Expectations and trade value and all that crap don't matter right now. This was a fantastic game and an absolutely incredible performance. Here's to hoping that this gives him the boost he needs to keep pitching well and go on to have a great career, hopefully with the Giants.

Congrats, Jonathan.