Sanchez goes for sweep in start of the end
Teammates’ support and Cy Young buzz unlikely to postpone return to ’pen
Aaron Sanchez could make history this season, but not how he nor his teammates would like.
As Jayson Stark, the ESPN baseball writer, dug up in a recent column on the dilemma the Blue Jays face with their hard-throwing right-hander, if Sanchez does in fact move to the bullpen in the near future he might become the first pitcher in baseball history with a sub-3.00 ERA at least 20 starts into a season to then make at least 10 appearances out of the ’pen.
“It’s one of those deals (where) nobody wants to do it, but it’s probably going to happen for his own good,” manager John Gibbons said Saturday.
Going back to spring training, Gibbons has always discussed Sanchez’s return to the bullpen as inevitable. But general manager Ross Atkins has been less definitive. He has said Sanchez will be monitored for signs of fatigue, while suggesting the team could employ “creative” solutions to keep him in the rotation while limiting his workload.
Either way, a decision is expected soon.
He’s the Jays’ scheduled starter on Sunday, one day before the nonwaiver trade deadline, and if the Jays add a starting pitcher of some conse- quence the expectation is that Sanchez will shift into a relief role at that point. But Atkins has said publicly that the Jays don’t want to let one decision affect the other.
The man himself has not made the decision any easier. Sanchez has not only been the Jays’ best pitcher, but arguably the best in the American League. He owns the league’s lowest ERA and has inserted himself into the Cy Young conversation in his first full season as a starter.
But the 24-year-old is already a fraction of an inning away from his career high and, if he stays in the rotation, is on pace to throw more than 200 innings, which would be 50 per cent more than he’s ever thrown. The fear is that bumping up his workload to that extent could lead to a serious elbow or shoulder injury. But nobody knows for sure.
If the science were definitive and moving Sanchez to the bullpen to limit his workload could guarantee he would not get injured — or that keeping him in the rotation would guarantee he did — there would be little to debate. But while there are best practices and cautionary tales, numerous studies and reams of data, there’s no sure thing.
While the bosses mull over what to do, the preference is clear inside the Jays’ clubhouse.
“He’s pitched too good to take him out of the rotation,” said veteran reliever Jason Grilli. “I understand why they’re considering that — they want to protect him for the long term and his career — but he doesn’t look like anything’s slowing down.”
Grilli points to how efficient Sanchez has been this season — thanks to his worm-killing sinker, which often earns quick groundouts. Sanchez has averaged just 15 pitches per inning, sixth-fewest among qualified starters. He has endured just four so-called “stressful innings,” tracked by ESPN as any frame of 30 pitches or more. “Is he labouring?” Grilli asked. “I don’t think so.”
Meanwhile, Sanchez’s average fastball velocity has remained steady at around 95 m.p.h.
“There have been outings where it doesn’t even look like he’s breaking a sweat,” said Kevin Pillar. “I get where their concern comes from because his future is so bright. But at the same time, you’ve got to factor in the amount of work that he put into himself and his body this (past) off-season.”
As was well-documented, Sanchez added significantly more muscle to his lanky frame with the stated goal of increasing his ability to withstand a 200-inning season.
“It’s not a decision I would want to be making,” Grilli said, “because we want to win and we need him. But there’s a risk-reward.”
Pillar said that unless Sanchez shows signs of fatigue, he hopes he is allowed to continue as a starter. At the same time, he said it’s not his or any other player’s “place” to question front-office decisions: “If (Sanchez moves to the bullpen) we know he makes our bullpen that much stronger. But we definitely like the fact that we know he’s going out there every five days and that gives us a good chance to win.”