DUNEDIN, Fla. — When Blue Jays starter Aaron Sanchez made his first spring training appearance last Sunday, he had to do so in relief. It happens. There’s a lot of pitchers in camp who need work, and only so many innings. Someone draws the short straw.
Still, its less than ideal. Starters have their pre-game preparations down to a science. They aren’t accustomed to managing so many variables. During the regular season, they don’t have to time their peak readiness with the successes or struggles of another pitcher on the mound.
So, it was a literal relief for Sanchez to get to start his first game Saturday, as he pitched three nearly-perfect innings at the beginning of a 13-8 Blue Jays win over the Minnesota Twins.
“I think that helped a ton — just getting to go through my pregame routine,” Sanchez said. “I was just excited to finally be back out there again. I did a lot of work these five, six days in between to make sure that I was prepared. Any day that it’s my day to go pitch, that’s my fun day. That’s my work day. I’ve done everything I needed to do in between. That’s the day that you just go out there and show what you’ve got.”
Sanchez certainly looked like he was enjoying it. The 25-year-old was utterly dominant through his first eight batters, retiring each in order. He suffered a hiccup against the ninth, making a mistake with his grip on a 1-2 change-up which got away and sailed behind Taylor Featherston’s back. Sanchez went to a curveball next, and Featherston shot it into the left-centre field gap for a double.
But Sanchez came back against the next hitter with two fastballs for strikes, before missing with a change-up. As he was about to deliver his next pitch, Sanchez spun around on the mound and picked off Featherston at second, ensuring he’d face the minimum.
“It wasn’t set up,” Sanchez said. “It was just a reaction play. It was just something that we’ve been working on as a team in the back fields before games. We weren’t very good with that last year. And I think that’s an emphasis in spring training, cutting down leads, cutting down the running game, trying to minimize those base runners.
“We found a lot of times last year that those were the runs that ended up hurting us. The guys that would steal a bag to second — with a bloop into centre, now you’re down by a run.”
Sanchez had opportunities to work on other fielding aspects to his position, as well, covering first on a groundball and making a play on another grounder from the mound. It never hurts to face in-game situations like those in spring training, merely to get used to making live plays off the mound again.
“At game speed, going over things like that, it’s good,” Sanchez said. “You can only mimic it so much in practice”
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In all, Sanchez threw 31 pitches, 23 for strikes (two swinging). His fastball sat 94-95 mph, while the six change-ups he threw sat 88-mph, and the three curveballs he used were 79-80-mph.
Sanchez’s change-up was particularly effective, which is a good sign as its such an important pitch for him. Sanchez is expecting the opposition to stack its batting order with left-handed hitters against him this year, and he feels the change-up can be an equalizer in that platoon advantage.
“I feel like, for the most part, the majority of them have been swing-and-misses or swing and groundball outs. So, if I can continue to incorporate that and keep the feel for that, I think that’s going to be a huge thing for me this year,” Sanchez said. “It was fun to get out there and face some lefties. I know teams are going to try to do that a lot to me this year.”
Donaldson on the mend, returning soon
A minor right shoulder injury has prevented Josh Donaldson from making his debut in the field this spring, but the Blue Jays are planning to have him in the lineup and playing third base on Tuesday, when they host the Atlanta Braves.
“His shoulder’s hanging a little bit. He’ll be okay,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “It’s just something where, let’s knock it out.”
Donaldson’s made four plate appearances in two games as a designated hitter thus far, drawing a pair of walks and striking out twice. He last played Tuesday, and has been held out of the lineup since to allow his shoulder to heal.
Tepesch returns
The Blue Jays signed right-hander Nick Tepesch to a minor-league deal Saturday. He’ll report to major-league camp. The 29-year-old made three starts for the Blue Jays last season, pitching to a 5.14 ERA over 14 innings, while striking out seven and walking seven.
Tepesch will likely factor into a triple-A rotation that is expected to be frontlined by Ryan Borucki, who was hit around Saturday, allowing five runs on five hits and a walk in 1.1 innings.
It was a rough outing for the left-handed prospect. But Gibbons had an encouraging message for Borucki afterwards.
“I said, ‘listen, you’re getting ready for the season. I know you want to impress us. You’re one of our top guys. But it’s still spring training for a reason,’” Gibbons said. “And sometimes an outing like that can do you some good. He’s got a great arm. He’s going to be good. But it just shows you — you’ve still got to pitch. Nobody throws hard enough where they can get away if they’re not locating the ball, falling behind. So, that’s not going to hurt him.”
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