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“I think I’m ahead of schedule (for this time of year),” said the 25-year-old Californian. “I’m always here early, I live down here. I think I’ve been throwing off the mound 6-7-8 times before today so I know where I need to be and I feel like I’m there.

“I’ll go look at video and see how (Tuesday’s outing) went and then I’ll adjust what needs to improve from there. But I think I’m ahead of schedule for sure,” he added.

Sanchez said he is extremely excited about getting his first start when the Grapefruit League schedule begins Friday, though he’s not sure what day his start will be.

“I think that’s what I miss the most, competing every five days and going out there and doing that,” he said. “So, yeah, even though it is our team (he’s facing on the mound) and even though we’re in the very early stages of where I need to be, there’s definitely a lot of excitement for 5-6 days from now, whenever I’m throwing. I’ll be in a normal game and we’ll just keep checking every box off as we get there and hopefully we continue to go at a solid pace.

“At the end of the day I have no control over how this thing (the blister issues) is going to react,” Sanchez added. “I just put myself in the best situation to deliver a pitch and to do things I need to do to compete at 60-feet, six inches. After that, it’s out of my control.”

Gibbons said a number of pitchers caught his attention from Tuesday’s training session, the first time at spring training the pitchers faced live hitters.