They had big dreams of what they would one day accomplish in the majors, starting with their selections 46 picks apart in the 2010 draft, ascending the ranks together as top prospects and close friends, eventually fronting the Toronto Blue Jays starting staff for years to come.
The possibilities seemed so real, so attainable for Aaron Sanchez, Justin Nicolino and Noah Syndergaard, especially as the hype around them grew, their “Big Three” moniker evoking memories of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito dominating for the Oakland Athletics a decade ago.
Then came the off-season, when their aspirational visions met with the grander designs of a big-league club on the make. By the time Alex Anthopoulos was finished only Sanchez remained, the heist of theMiami Marlins compensated with Nicolino among others, the finishing touch of R.A. Dickey from the New York Mets paid for in part with Syndergaard.
“It was crazy,” says Sanchez. “With so much surrounding all three of us up to this point, thinking maybe we might get to the big-leagues together, the next thing you know there’s only one left.
“Me and Justin were like best friends. Our first off-season after we were drafted, we lived in Florida here together, we worked out at the complex here together. Noah wasn’t as close as Justin and I, but we were all pretty good buddies. We wanted to be one, two and three in the rotation someday.”
Their collective dream a thing of the past, each is now adjusting to a new reality this spring.
Nicolino, 21, and Syndergaard, 20, joined teams in the midst of rebuilds, and that could speed up their timelines to the majors, while Sanchez, 20, becomes the crown jewel of a farm system once overstocked with gems, but may face a more difficult time trying to break through with the big-league club seemingly stocked for seasons to come.
“I’m a big believer in everything happens for a reason,” says the native of Barstow, Calif. “There’s a reason for me being here and there’s a reason for them to be where they’re at.
“It’s a great opportunity for (Nicolino and Syndergaard) to go through their organizations pretty quickly, it’s a good opportunity for me to shine in our organization. All in all, it’s good for all three of us.”
Intriguing to watch in the coming years will be how each pans out, and the Blue Jays can only hope they held on to the right guy.
Of the three, the left-handed Nicolino is the most polished but the feeling is his ceiling is lower than that of the two power-armed right-handers.
Dating back to the 2010 draft — when the Blue Jays agonized over who to take first, finally deciding to pick Sanchez at No. 34 to not risk losing him and exhaling when they were able to snag Syndergaard as well at 38 — debate has raged over who ends up the better pitcher.
Syndergaard has much better command of his fastball — 2.7 walks per nine in his three pro seasons — at this point but he lacks a breaking ball and he’ll need to add a third pitch to thrive as a starter.
Sanchez, on the other hand, already has three quality pitches but his command is worrisome with a career walks per nine rate of five through his first three pro seasons.
Working in the Blue Jays’ favour is that Sanchez actually increased his velocity over the course of last season, sitting 96-98 M.P.H. at year’s end while occasionally touching 100.
“When I finally started pitching at those velocities every start, every start, every start, it just became more natural with the arm slot, release point. Everything started falling into place,” says Sanchez.
“I got to a point where I dialed in 93-94, and then the next thing you know, 94-96, and I had a couple of starts there where I was dialed in and got 96-98. It’s a lot tougher than people might see. They’re happy about the velocity but it is a little different trying to control that jump.”
Sanchez added that the towel drills and mirror work he did with Vince Horsman, the pitching coach for the single-A Lansing Lugnuts, was instrumental.
Tony LaCava, the Blue Jays assistant GM who oversees the farm system, feels Sanchez’s continuing physical maturation was likely a big part of the power increase, and believes better command of it will come in time.
“Each year since we’ve gotten him, it seems like he adds a grade to his fastball and he does it so easy that I’m not sure what his limits are,” says LaCava. “Often times when a guy’s velocity and power increases, it’s like having a new toy and sometimes the control and the command lag, usually it might take a year for the guy to get comfortable with that newfound power and velocity.
“It’s still not where he wants it or we want it. As he matures, that’s going to be a big part of his development.”
While hitting 100 on the radar gun captures the imagination — Sanchez says “I’ve never seen it with my two eyes,” but outfield prospect Dalton Pompey testifies that, “I saw it one time, when we were playing South Bend, first pitch of the game was 100. For real” — it’s the development of his changeup which may prove to be more important.
A work in progress since the fall of 2011, the pitch really started to click in 2012, particularly the ones he was able to throw at 85-86 M.P.H. with good movement. More typically, his change sat at 87-88, with one recorded at 91 — a speed many pitchers wish they could reach with their fastball.
“It’s still a little firm but the amount of difference between the fastball and the changeup was enough to mess up their timing,” says Sanchez. “Guys are sitting dead red and then I pull the string.”
Should he continue to fool hitters and improve his command, Sanchez won’t have to worry about the other starters standing between him and the big-leagues.
The Blue Jays’ wild winter underlined to him that opportunity may very well come elsewhere, and that the best laid plans of promising young men can get torn to shreds in an instant.
Sanchez recalls that before the Dickey deal came down, a clubhouse attendant told him that he may be headed to the Mets instead of Syndergaard and that caused him to “start freaking out a bit” because “the Blue Jays are where I need to be and where I want to be.”
That’s where he’s at, the last of the Big Three, chasing a shared dream on his own.