Dominant spring or not, when Aaron Sanchez earned a spot in the Toronto Blue Jays‘ rotation prior to the season he was far from a sure thing.
Sanchez had poor peripherals in previous work as a starter, possessed a relatively thin arsenal and struggled against left-handed batters. Jesse Chavez or Gavin Floyd would have been a safer choice.
The Blue Jays decided to roll the dice, and in a season where not a lot has gone their way, Sanchez has justified the gamble. Through eight starts, the right-hander has a 3.21 ERA and the underlying stats to suggest it’s sustainable success. His command is sharper, he’s still keeping the ball on the ground and most importantly, the strikeouts are starting to come.
Even with elite velocity, Sanchez was never able to use his secondary stuff to miss that many bats before 2016. The 23-year-old brought a career 6.32 K/9 into the season, well below league-average in an era where strikeouts are at an all-time high.
This year that’s changed. Despite having to dial down his fastball a tick or two for his starting role, Sanchez is striking out 7.79 per nine innings, just the smallest touch above the average starter (7.77). It’s the highest strikeout rate he’s posted at any level since he managed a 7.82 at single-A Dunedin in 2013.
A look at where his strikeouts are coming from by pitch shows the biggest difference has been his curveball.
| Pitch | 2015 K/9 | 2016 K/9 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four-Seam Fastball | 0.58 | 1.04 | +0.46 |
| Sinker | 3.51 | 3.63 | +0.12 |
| Changeup | 0.32 | 0.51 | +0.19 |
| Curveball | 1.46 | 2.59 | +1.13 |
Sanchez’s whole repertoire is looking sharper, but it’s the hook that’s giving him a two-strike option besides his sinker. He’s already struck out as many hitters with it (15) in 52 innings as he did in 92.1 innings last season.
Not only have the punchouts been there, but there have been some underlying changes that suggest an effort on Sanchez’s part to modify the pitch. He’s throwing the curveball approximately one-and-half miles per hour slower than he did last season and he’s achieving over an inch more drop with it. With those alterations has come an improved whiff rate.
| Category | 2015 | 2016 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Velocity | 79.88 | 78.30 | -1.68 |
| Vertical Movement | -8.54 | -9.74 | -1.20 |
| Whiff% | 10.88 | 14.41 | +3.53 |
Among pitchers who’ve thrown at least 100 curveballs this year, Sanchez now has the third-most drop behind Chris Tillman and Clayton Kershaw.
This loopier breaking ball has been harder for opponents to handle, particularly the left-handers who caused him grief in the past. Coming into the season, he’d struck out seven opposite-handed batters on curveballs in his career. This year he’s already done it 10 times.
Sanchez most commonly buries the pitch down-and-in and in like he did to Mark Teixeira of the New York Yankees in April.
Because the curve is so much slower than his sinker, Sanchez can also catch hitters by surprise in the strike zone, as Brandon Crawford can attest.
When he throws it to right handers, Sanchez tends to put it low-and-away like a slider.
The 23-year-old has turned what was often a “show-me” pitch into one that sneaks below the bats of major-league hitters with some consistency.
It’s not a Kershaw hammer, a Jose Fernandez slider or a Masahiro Tanaka splitter, but it’s a valuable tool for a pitcher who can be decidedly fastball-heavy at times.
What makes Sanchez is special is his power sinker. Ground balls should always come easily for him. But even if you get your grounders, a poor strikeout rate puts you at risk of being burned by balls in play.
Though Sanchez may never be a strikeout artist, he needs to get his fair share. Wielding an improved curveball, he’s doing exactly that.