Jays notebook: Chavez ready for rotation if team needs to give him a spin

PHOENIX— If the Blue Jays truly want to place an innings limit on Aaron Sanchez but are unable to get a starter in a trade or otherwise, then Jesse Chavez believes he is able to step into the void.

Chavez was a true swingman with Oakland the last two years, making 21 starts in 2014 and 26 starts in 2015.

‘‘Looking at what I do on the side, without being out there pitching, not throwing a baseball, I could probably go anywhere from . . . I could throw 70 pitches,” Chavez said of how long it would take him to transition to the rotation if needed.

“Last year, (it) was unfortunate events where we had a guy with a blister, (Jesse) Hahn, and I went from the bullpen to the rotation on a road trip. Honestly, it’s just how stressful I make the innings, depending on how stressful those innings are.”

Chavez, 32, is 15-23 as a starter, with a 4.14 ERA in 49 games and 81⁄ strikeouts per nine innings pitched. SAUNDERS HEADS HOME: All-star Michael Saunders flew home to Colorado to take care of personal business and was expected to rejoin the Jays in time for Friday’s game against the Mariners.

With Saunders away from the team and Ezequiel Carrera feeling the effects of his Achilles injury, infielder Darwin Barney started in left field Wednesday at Chase Field.

There are roster decisions to be made over the next week: Jose Bautista is expected to rejoin the Jays on Monday; Marco Estrada needs to be activated for his Friday start against Seattle; Ryan Goins, whose 15 days on the disabled list have ended, is ready to rejoin the Jays; and the team must make a decision on left-hander Franklin Morales, whose rehab time at Triple-A Buffalo expires Wednesday. PRIZE POSITION: Barney was playing left field for the first time in the majors against the Diamondbacks, but he had fond memories of his one prolonged experience at that position as a member of the under-21 United States team that won the 2006 world championship in Cuba.

Barney was the starting shortstop for Oregon State that year but, when he joined Team USA, the position was already being manned by Brandon Crawford and Zack Cozart. He was asked if he would play left field, and the team that did not lose a game all summer.

Among his teammates: pitchers David Price, Jake Arrieta, Ross Detwiler, Sean Doolittle and Tommy Hunter; outfielders Julio Borbon and Todd Frazier; infielders Jemile Weeks and Pedro Alvarez, and catcher J.P. Arencibia. SEA OF BLUE: Even in Arizona where it was 37 C outdoors for the two Jays games against the Diamondbacks, Toronto fans flocked to the desert for their baseball fix.

The Jays lead the AL in home attendance, and are third on the road, as the sea of blue continues to wash over those major-league ballparks south of the border.

“It really doesn’t surprise me anymore,” Jays manager John Gibbons said. “Behind our dugout is basically all blue. It’s pretty cool to see.”