TORONTO – Aaron Sanchez acted on Saturday like he’d been here before which, of course, he has been although not necessarily in the starring role he will assume on Sunday.
He has grown into a man or a least a man’s pitcher in front of our eyes for the past two seasons and the closest thing anybody has seen in these parts since Roy Halladay was in the process of becoming Roy Halladay.
“I keep thinking to myself: He ever gets a handle on that curveball,” manager John Gibbons said Saturday, shaking his head as his voice trailed off. “There’s no telling where he could go or what he could do. Sky’s the limit, man.”
Sanchez will be on the Rogers Centre mound as the Toronto Blue Jays attempt to wipe out the Texas Rangers in what would be a stunning three-game sweep of the best-of-five American League Division Series between the team with the best record in the league and the wild-card Blue Jays, who, coupled with last year’s come-from-behind win over these same Rangers, have won five straight post-season affairs between them.
It would be a stinging loss for the Rangers, who talked a big game going into the series but are on the verge of cementing an organizational reputation for choking.
The Rangers, who so brazenly flaunted their joy at seeing Rougned Odor punch Jose Bautista in the face back in May, will now stave off elimination in a city that hates them – a town with the game’s loudest and nastiest crowds that has been pining for a chance to return the favor.
“Look, there will be no panic,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “There will be no reactionary-type situation. It will be, I think, well thought-out. Maybe I should call John and ask him how he felt last season? I say that because the roles are reversed.”
Odor and the Rangers likely have no clue what’s in store for them. And while it’s Sanchez’s first post-season start, he by comparison has an idea of what it’s like to pitch in the post-season.
Sanchez appeared in nine of the Blue Jays’ 11 post-season games last season. He was hit some – particularly in the ALCS loss to the Kansas City Royals – but it was also him who was on the mound in the famous seventh inning during Game 5 of the Rangers series. Sanchez who looked on in disbelief as catcher Russell Martin’s throw back to him hit the handle of Shin Soo-Choo’s bat, allowing Odor to score from third base in a decision that resulted in a barrage of garbage on the Rogers Centre playing field.
While all hell broke out around him, Sanchez stood behind the mound and waited. He remembers one of the umpires walking up to him and telling him he could leave the field while it was cleaned up. Fuming, he had to hold his tongue, but he remained, struck out Choo with a fist-pump and Bautista took over from there.
Sanchez played a vital role in the Blue Jays’ first division title in 22 years in 2015, pitching out of the bullpen after returning following a stint on the 15-day disabled list with a strained lat muscle. He became the dependable bridge to closer Roberto Osuna.
Gibbons revealed Saturday that at one point following the injury last season there was serious discussion about not putting Sanchez into the bullpen and letting him work his way back as a starter.
“But we knew we could get him back quicker having him work out of the bullpen,” said Gibbons. “It would have taken longer had we left him as a starter.”
And now here’s Sanchez, who led the AL with a 3.00 earned-run average and pitched the final game of the regular season to help put the Blue Jays into a one-game wild-card meeting with the Baltimore Orioles. Sanchez – up on the podium at a post-season news conference, still sounding like a kid, talking about being “excited” and how stuff is “huge” even after he responded to one of the first questions – was asked if he was ready to finish this thing off. His response: “I’m ready.”
“That was huge, being able to get my feet wet in the post-season, just understanding that atmosphere, that it’s still the same game even enough it says ‘Post-season’ on everybody’s [uniform] patch,” said Sanchez, whose opposing number – Colby Lewis – hasn’t started a playoff game in five years.
There is an obvious difference between the bullpen and the rotation, post-season or regular season. As Gibbons said, “Coming out of the bullpen, it was one, two innings. He was really just going in there, letting it rip for two innings or however long he was in there.
“It’s his command that’s better this year. I mean, he’ll still lose some batters and walk some batters occasionally, but you’ll see him fall behind and where in the past he might walk a guy four straight, now he’ll fall behind 2-0 and make a good pitch, and the next thing you know he’s getting a guy out.”
The Blue Jays had a lot invested in getting Sanchez to this point. This, after all, was what the whole six-man rotation was about to begin with: To keep his arm healthy enough that he is now just a tick under 100 innings more than he tossed in the Majors in 2015.
The truth is, we won’t know the toll exacted by all these innings until next season, once all the adrenaline’s flushed out and Sanchez begins the process all over again. Hell, as Sanchez himself admitted Saturday he has no idea how many more innings the Blue Jays will ask from him this season.
“As far as innings in the post-season, I have no idea,” said Sanchez. “That’s not up to me. Like I said, I’ve done everything that I’ve been told to do all year. I’ve kept my body in shape to be able to do those things in case my name is called upon and wherever this post-season takes us, whatever they have in mind, I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”