OAKLAND, Calif. – Aaron Sanchez believes he’s prepared for a return to the Toronto Blue Jays although his activation from the disabled list may be pushed back after a rough rehab outing with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old right-hander allowed a pair of unearned runs on two passed balls in two-thirds of an inning during a 7-5 loss to Syracuse, surrendering a hit and two walks while striking out one. He threw 24 pitches, only 11 for strikes, but feels the needed progress has been made.
“I feel like I’m ready but they’re the ones that make the ultimate decision,” he told reporters in Buffalo, adding later: “What we’re getting out of this is making sure I feel good, regardless of how I do. Yeah, you want to see results, but at the end of the day, it’s how I’m feeling. I’m on rehab, I’m not here to make every pitch a strike. I want to do it, but sometimes it doesn’t work like that.”
Earlier in the day, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said a good outing in Buffalo could lead to a Sanchez return as soon as Thursday, and that even if he wasn’t at his best, it still might make sense to get him back as soon as possible.
However, given that he’s bound for high leverage spots in the bullpen, giving him another outing or two might make sense to sharpen him up so he can hit the ground running. Gibbons plans to use Sanchez as a one-inning reliever as part of a late-game shutdown trio with Bo Schultz and closer Roberto Osuna.
“Looking over the last couple of months, I’m the one making the decisions on who’s pitching coming out of the bullpen, I can just envision him shoring that up, simply because of what Osuna is turning out to be, what Schultzie’s done, I didn’t think Schultzie was going to be this good this fast,” said Gibbons. “Really it’s an extra piece that can make us that much stronger down there, and lock up some of those games that we haven’t been able to do to this point.”
The Blue Jays’ bullpen issues late in games are well known, as they’re tied for second in the majors with 15 blown saves, most of them coming before the ninth inning. Liam Hendriks, who’s now the club’s long reliever, Steve Delabar, Aaron Loup and Brett Cecil have all had stints in late-game, high leverage roles with varying degrees of success.
“This is nothing against anyone else out in that room,” said Gibbons, “but if you watch what Sanchie did last year, and then seeing what Osuna has done, and Schultzie, it’s definitely a different look.”
Sanchez threw 33 innings over 24 games as a reliever with the Blue Jays last season, posting a 1.09 ERA, 0.697 WHIP and 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings. His workload was limited as Gibbons made sure to give him ample rest, but this time, “the gloves are off with him once he comes back … if he needs to throw two, three days in a row, then he needs to do that.”
Sanchez has been on the disabled list since June 6 with a lat strain suffered while pitching into the ninth inning against the Houston Astros the previous night. Another factor in the decision to convert him is concern over his durability and the time needed for him to regain his past form.
Regardless, Sanchez is fine with the sudden reversal of roles.
“They feel like we’re a better team like that and obviously the ultimate goal is to get into October and to get deep into October,” said Sanchez. “If they feel that’s a move that’s going to help us get there, then I’m all for it.”