TORONTO – From the merits of closely monitoring his workload to the often unhittable stuff he threw at batters, Aaron Sanchez was never far from any discussion about the Toronto Blue Jays rotation this year. Now, the only pertinent question is whether or not he can save the season.
“He’s turned himself into the one of the better ones in baseball,” said Jays manager John Gibbons, whose team trails the Cleveland Indians 3-0 in the American League Championship Series. “And he’s been solid all year. We’ve been getting great pitching the whole series. We can’t complain about that one bit. And we really expect him just to do the same. He’s that good.”
Assuming he makes it through 2.1 innings on Tuesday afternoon, Sanchez will hit the much-talked-about 200 innings barrier in 2016. His last outing came on Oct. 9, when the Jays closed out the Texas Rangers in Game 3 of the American League Division Series. The eight days off between trips to the mound might mess with some hurlers, but it’s something Sanchez is accustomed to thanks to the cautious manner in which the team has managed his calendar.
“They’ve given me the opportunity to pitch on six [days rest], pitch on sometimes ten,” Sanchez said. “It’s something that I’ve had to deal with all year, so I feel ready and prepared coming into the start. A lot of pitchers don’t like it, but having the luxury of doing it throughout the course of the year quite a few times, it’s not anything new.”
Forget about his downtime, what Sanchez accomplished when he was on the hill the past six months is staggering. He posted an MLB-best .882 winning percentage on the strength of a 15-2 record and excelled at keeping the ball in the yard, surrendering just 0.7 home runs per nine innings, the best mark in the American League.
The 22-year-old, though, had a tough showing in his only playoff appearance, giving up six earned runs in 5.2 innings of work versus the Rangers. Asked what he learned from his first-ever post-season start, Sanchez — who didn’t cough up a run in 7.1 innings of relief work last October — spoke about the need to hold butterflies at bay.
“Just keeping the excitement under control,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing I’ve found. Maybe execute more pitches, just making sure I stay in the moment and keeping my feet under me.”
When the series began, many people identified Toronto’s starters as being distinctly superior to a Cleveland rotation that’s been decimated by injuries. Sanchez, however, doesn’t believe that fact puts any additional pressure on the staff.
“We understand what we have to do is go out there, execute pitches, keep our team in the game, stay in late as you can, get as many outs as you can before you have to turn it over,” he said. “It’s kind of been our mentality all year, and we have to continue to do that until there’s no more games left.”
Attempting to make this Toronto’s last contest will be Corey Kluber. The Cleveland ace became manager Terry Francona’s preferred option once Game 3 starter Trevor Bauer left in the first inning Monday night after a cut on the pinky finger of his pitching hand re-opened. Had Bauer proven healthy, he could have been a potential Game 7 starter, too. But with Bauer’s status up in the air, Francona turned to Kluber for Game 4 knowing the latter could also be in line to pitch a decisive contest should the series extend that far.
“When I came off the mound after taking Trevor out, that was kind of the one thing that lifted my spirits a little bit, is the first guy I saw was Kluber,” said Francona.
If there’s one thing that could make the Blue Jays feel a little better about seeing the 2014 Cy Young winner it’s the fact Kluber is pitching on three days rest for the first time in his career. Toronto managed six hits off Kluber in Game 1, but were never able break through when they had early chances.
“He was really good,” Gibbons said. “He’s one of the top pitchers in baseball for a good reason.”