Sanchez could bring bullpen help
Blister-plagued righty would be team’s best September addition
It seems every time a Blue Jays starter goes five innings or fewer, the team is forced to make a roster change the next day to get a fresh arm for the bullpen.
It has become a predictable pattern, especially after the trades of Joe Smith and Francisco Liriano and with Joe Biagini transforming to a starter again at Triple-A Buffalo. And still the Jays consider themselves wild-card contenders.
Right-hander T.J. House was the latest fresh face Saturday, joining the Jays from Buffalo as Nick Te- pesch, the replacement No. 4 starter, went 32⁄ innings against the Chicago
3 Cubs at Wrigley Field. Left-hander Tim Mayza, a John Gibbons favourite, was sent to the Bisons for what the manager promises will be a short demotion.
The shuffling seems to be happening everywhere. With an off day Monday, Gibbons is adjusting his rotation. Marcus Stroman will be pushed back, working on six days’ rest against Tampa Bay on Wednesday, with surprising righthander Chris Rowley going the day before on the normal four days’ rest. Stroman will be followed by J.A. Happ, Marco Estrada and Biagini, making his return from Buffalo.
None of those plans involve the forgotten man, defending AL ERA champ Aaron Sanchez, whose oft-blistered middle finger has landed him on the disabled list four times this year.
Sanchez threw off flat ground in the outfield for five minutes Saturday and came away beaming. It was his first throwing session since going on the DL on July 20. He smiled and bumped fists with bullpen catcher Alex Andreopoulos.
“This is probably the first time I’ve felt the most normal in terms of everything put together,” Sanchez said. “There’s times before when I would play catch and I’d be maybe a little bit tentative right at release point, not knowing. Today I felt 100 times better than I ever have. I was pain-free. Everything felt good, now it’s on the progression. I’m not going to put a timetable on it. Just taking it how I feel and find out what’s best for me.”
If Sanchez can progress normally, Gibbons may have help filling his biggest need, the bullpen. The manager loves his relief corps but there is concern that some key pieces will hit a wall of games and innings before the season is over. Sanchez would be a key addition.
If Sanchez hopes to return to a starting role this season, he would have to work his way back up in the minors and the minor-league season ends Labour Day weekend. The quickest return would be via the Jays’ bullpen.
“I do understand that the minorleague season is coming to an end,” Sanchez agreed. “I understand everything on the outside that I can control is happening (right now). When that time comes and if it is the bullpen, then I’ve been there, I’ve done that. It’ll give me some innings on a regular basis more than it would as a starter having to wait every five days.
“Either way, the main thing is just getting back out there, being healthy and going from there.”
Sanchez hasn’t admitted a return to relieving is coming — he would likely switch places with Biagini in any long-term plans — but a stint in the bullpen would allow him to test his aggravated digit in shorter bursts.
“I think the test could be to get the finger in there, get the finger out,” Sanchez said. “In terms of starting, the longevity of 100 pitches might build it up to break it down. Nobody has the right answer for this. (Blisters are) something that has kind of come across baseball in bunches as of late. Nobody really expected it. It’s just one of those things. If I’m out there and I do throw in the bullpen and does feel all right then we’re headed in the right direction, for sure.”
It would be encouraging, sure, but we’ve heard this Sanchez optimism, or versions of it, before.
“I have enough time where I might be in some games at the right time,” Sanchez said. “We’re right in the thick of things. You can get an arm that either bolsters the bullpen, bolsters the rotation, whatever it may be I’m willing to do.”
As for Gibbons and his overworked bullpen, the expanded roster coming Sept. 1 should help. The Jays can add three or four arms to eat up innings in low-leverage situations. And if Sanchez is indeed pitching out of the pen in the final month, he will be an important piece along with Roberto Osuna, Ryan Tepera, Danny Barnes and Dom Leone.
Osuna missed Friday’s game with the flu but was back with the team Saturday. Tepera, meanwhile, pitched Friday but was back at the hotel Saturday with flu-like symptoms. The Jays’ bullpen carousel of availability seems never ending.