Sanchez wows in throwing session
DUNEDIN — When Aaron Sanchez was on the mound facing live hitting on Tuesday at the Bobby Mattick Training Center, pretty well every time he threw a pitch, there was an audible reaction.
A player would whistle, catcher Russ Martin would yell something like “nasty!” or the coach shagging balls in centre field behind Sanchez would whoop it up.
At one point, after facing what Sanchez was offering, first baseman Justin Smoak walked out of the cage shaking his head in amazement.
It was clear that Sanchez — who was only able to start eight games last year because of blister issues in his right middle finger — had it going on.
“Really good,” said manager John Gibbons. “Everything came out nice and easy and really locked in. I didn’t expect to see him that good.
“I was watching him in the bullpen before he went out there and I saw him facing hitters, he really looked like in mid-season form and that’s exciting to see,” Gibbons added.
Sanchez, who was the AL ERA leader in 2016 (3.00 ERA), last pitched in a game on July 19 at Boston so obviously how he looks here at spring training camp is big news. If the Jays have any hope of contending this season, they need Sanchez healthy and throwing like he did in 2016. So far so good.
“Everything is well,” said Sanchez of his session on Tuesday. “In terms of how I felt and the ball coming out of my hand, there were no issues. I felt like action was really good, command was really good. No issues with the finger. That’s a huge plus. Arm felt good, body felt good, so all signs are positive.”
Both Sanchez and the team are hopeful that the right-hander’s blister issues, which landed him on the DL four times last season, are under control, though there are no guarantees. But Sanchez said he has done everything in his power not only to take care of his finger, but to get in shape for the season.
“I think I’m ahead of schedule (for this time of year),” said the 25-year-old Californian. “I’m always here early, I live down here. I think I’ve been throwing off the mound 6-7-8 times before today so I know where I need to be and I feel like I’m there.
“I’ll go look at video and see how (Tuesday’s outing) went and then I’ll adjust what needs to improve from there. But I think I’m ahead of schedule for sure,” he added.
Sanchez said he is extremely excited about getting his first start when the Grapefruit League schedule begins on Friday, though he’s not sure what day his start will be.
“I think that’s what I miss the most, competing every five days and going out there and doing that,” he said. “So yeah even though it is our team (he’s facing on the mound) and even though we’re in the very early stages of where I need to be, there’s definitely a lot of excitement for five, six days from now, whenever I’m throwing. I’ll be in a normal game and we’ll just keep checking every box off as we get there and hopefully we continue to go at a solid pace.”
“At the end of the day I have no control over how this thing (the blister issues) is going to react,” Sanchez added. “I just put myself in the best situation to deliver a pitch and to do things I need to do to compete at 60-feet, six inches. After that, it’s out of my control.”