‘No issues’ as Sanchez feels ready to return
BUFFALO, N.Y.— With moments of efficiency Sunday afternoon pitching for the Buffalo Bisons, Aaron Sanchez proved that he is ready enough to help the Blue Jays in their quest to emerge from the American League East basement.
Limited to five major-league starts this year due to recurring injuries to the middle finger of his pitching hand, including a torn fingernail and a blister problem, Sanchez declared himself ready to join the Toronto rotation despite allowing four runs in 4 1⁄ innings.
3 The right-hander, who turned 25 on Canada Day, was able to avoid extreme trouble with the help of three double plays, but a stretch of four consecutive hits in the fourth inning proved too much for the Bisons to overcome in a 5-2 loss against the Syracuse Chiefs.
“Everything’s good. No issues,” Sanchez said. “It’s been good for a few weeks now, so that’s encouraging to throw 75 pitches with no issues. Move on from here . . . If I have to face Houston (the Astros are in Toronto next weekend), I’m ready to go.”
When Sanchez left two batters into the fifth inning, he had allowed five hits and three walks while striking out four. He threw 40 of his 76 pitches for strikes, relying on a steady diet of fastballs that consistently stayed in the 93- to 95-m.p.h. range.
Press box observers counted about nine changeups and nine curveballs sprinkled into the mix, slightly more than Sanchez’s norm, but something he admitted was part of the plan.
“That’s the kind of pitch I use to those hitters, a predominantly lefthanded lineup,” Sanchez explained. “I wanted to see how I fared against them. For the most part I kept it down, which is a positive sign. It’s a work in progress, but I was OK with today.”
All three walks came against lefthanded batters, and all three occurred on pitches located high and outside. In his first rehab outing Tuesday with Class-A Dunedin, Sanchez threw strikes on 36 of 64 pitches over 32⁄ innings. He didn’t seem
3 overly frustrated with his ball-strike ratio Sunday or his inability to get ahead in the count.
“My fastball command was kind of iffy but, for the most part, I felt good,” said Sanchez, who threw first-pitch strikes to only eight of 18 batters. “This is rehab for a reason, to go out there and get in what I need. When I go up there, that’s when it counts.”
“I tell these guys, strike counts and first-pitch strikes and all these other details don’t matter,” Buffalo manager Bobby Meacham said. “It’s how many runs you’re going to give up. Keep it to a minimum and keep us in the ballgame. That’s what he did.”
Early on, Sanchez was able to emerge from difficulty with the help of his defence. Leadoff walks in each of the first two frames were erased by twin-killings. In the second inning, a sharp comebacker went through his legs that second baseman Jonathan Diaz was able to corral to start the double play.
In the fourth, after striking out Irving Falu to begin the inning, Sanchez yielded four hits in a row before getting yet another double play.
By that point, he had thrown 70 pitches, closing in on the 75-pitch guideline established by the Blue Jays for the outing. In the fifth inning, Sanchez promptly allowed a first-pitch single before striking out Stephen Perez on a 95-m.p.h. heater.
“I can’t be worried about it, if I’m going to give up a hit or not,” Sanchez said. “It’s a matter of making sure I’m getting in what I need to get in, working on what I need to work on, and making sure I come out with my finger (having) no issues, That’s what happened.”
Outfielder Michael Saunders, who agreed to a minor-league deal with Toronto last week and made his Buffalo debut on Thursday, drew two walks in four plate appearances and struck out in his final at-bat. He is 1-for-14 since joining the Bisons, who have lost 24 of their last 27 games.