Sanchez feels ready to start on Sunday
TORONTO — Blue Jays right-hander Aaron Sanchez remains on pace to come off the disabled list and start Sunday’s game after throwing a successful side session on Friday.
Sanchez, who landed on the 10day DL with a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand, underwent a procedure last week to remove part of the nail on the finger.
He threw 22 pitches during Friday’s side session.
“Everything was good,” Sanchez said of the throwing session. “Mechanics were good, the ball came out easy. No pain around the finger. No pain around any of the nail. So it’s back to hopefully the schedule as planned.”
The injury had been forcing Sanchez to tweak his mechanics at the end of his delivery to avoid the discomfort on the finger, which he feared would lead to more substantial problems down the road.
He said removing part of the nail has helped streamline his delivery again.
“I think the biggest thing when I first played catch the other day was not having to alter my mechanics at the end of my delivery,” Sanchez said. “Something so little gives me that freedom to just go back and compete.
“This game’s already hard enough to worry about a little finger issue that affects my whole game.”
Sanchez said there aren’t many preventive measures he can take to ensure the problem won’t happen again.
The plan now is to monitor the nail’s growth and take it from there.
Sanchez is 0-1 with a 4.38 earned-run average through two starts with the Blue Jays this season. He led the American League in ERA last year (3.00) and finished the regular season with a 15-2 record.