KANSAS CITY — All Aaron Sanchez wanted was a say. A say in his role on the Blue Jays, a say in how many innings he would ultimately pitch this season, a say in his future. And earlier this week in Houston, he got it.
During a long meeting with Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins, manager John Gibbons and pitching coach Pete Walker, Sanchez spoke his piece with regards to how he feels the rest of his so-far excellent 2016 season should play out. And on the other side of that meeting, after the Blue Jays had announced publicly that Sanchez would be shifted to the bullpen sometime after his Saturday start in Kansas City, it was revealed that plans had changed. The Blue Jays would go forward with a six-man rotation; Sanchez would remain as a starter. Whatever he said behind those closed doors, the Blue Jays clearly took it to heart.
“I felt like I should have a say in what was going on and what decision they made, considering the fact that I’m going to be the one doing it,” Sanchez said after throwing six innings in Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Royals. “What’s best for the future? Me going to the pen, is that really what’s best? That was the thing. It was just sitting down and talking through it. Just trying to figure out what’s best. That was the main decision in all of this.
“We sat down in there for a while and we came up with something I wanted to do, with something they wanted to do, and with something that we felt the team would like, too. It’s all said and done, and I can move forward now.”
Although he didn’t say so explicitly, it doesn’t take a master of deduction to tell that Sanchez wasn’t entirely pleased with the public pronouncements from Blue Jays brass about shifting him to the bullpen after they acquired Francisco Liriano minutes prior to Monday’s trade deadline. It’s of course worth noting Sanchez has the best ERA in the American League, and came into Saturday’s start in Kansas City having allowed two runs or less in eight consecutive outings.
Days after the Liriano trade, Atkins was on a flight to Houston to meet with Sanchez face to face. And shortly after that meeting, the Blue Jays’ tune had changed. With the blessing of Liriano and the four other Toronto starters, the club was suddenly going forward with a six-man rotation, something that hadn’t been publicly suggested before.
“I think that was the big thing with Francisco. He came over here open-minded to do whatever was asked of him. Obviously he wanted to start. And obviously I wanted to start, too,” Sanchez said. “But there’s been no hard feelings whatsoever in regards to that. We understand the situation at hand and what’s been given to us and we’ll try to make it work as best as we can.”
What shape the club’s decision-making with Sanchez takes going forward will be fascinating to watch play out. Sanchez is at 145.1 innings pitched after Saturday’s start, a dozen more than the career high he established in 2014. The Blue Jays front office has been extremely direct in saying there is an innings threshold they are uncomfortable passing. As Atkins put it recently, echoing what Shapiro has also frequently said: “There’s not a scenario where he pitches 220, 230 innings.”
Reaching 180 innings before the end of the regular season—an incredibly likely scenario if Sanchez continues to take his regular turn in the rotation—would already push the young pitcher into near unprecedented territory when it comes to innings bumps. Then, if the Blue Jays continue playing the way they are, there’s the post-season to consider. If Sanchez made even just three starts in October, he could quickly reach 200 innings pitched.
There’s no doubt this was all discussed in the Houston meeting earlier this week, and while Sanchez didn’t elaborate on his specific thoughts regarding innings increases on Saturday, he did say Blue Jays management heard his case.
“They were very respectful. They were very approachable with everything that I said. They took into consideration a lot of things that I said. In these talks it was never ‘We’re doing this, we’re doing that.’ It was just bouncing ideas off each other to see what the best thing is,” Sanchez said. “I couldn’t be mad with the fact that we’re having this conversation because if we weren’t, then they don’t care. So, I appreciate the organization and the front office for coming to me and approaching me with the decision-making. I think at the end of the day everybody’s happy and we can move on from this.”
