Aaron Sanchez could help the Toronto Blue Jays as soon as this season, according to manager John Gibbons.
After Sanchez was promoted to triple-A Thursday morning, Gibbons appeared on Baseball Central and said it’s conceivable that the 21-year-old could be promoted to Toronto later in the year — either as a starter or as reliever.
“We’re going to need everybody to contribute one way or another. You get an arm like that, why can’t he help?,” Gibbons said on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. “He should be able to help. You can’t get carried away, but what could happen is that if he’s really good down there he could come up and help us out of the bullpen. He could help us somewhere.”
While it is generally believed that the Blue Jays will look to acquire an additional starting pitcher this summer, Gibbons explained that Sanchez could provide the Blue Jays with the pitching they need.
“Everyone is well aware that he’s our top prospect,” he said. “So down the road if Alex (Anthopoulos) was trying to acquire a guy, he would have to be a centrepiece but maybe you don’t need to acquire a guy and he can be that guy himself if things work out well for him down there in triple-A. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
In 14 starts this season for double-A New Hampshire, Sanchez registered a 3-4 record with a 3.82 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 57 strikeouts, and 40 walks in 66 innings.
Sanchez is considered to be the top prospect in the Blue Jays’ organization. Baseball America graded him as the sport’s No. 32 prospect before the start of the 2014 season.
“He’s got a dynamite arm,” Gibbons explained. “When it all clicks, he could fly through the system and go on and have a special career. That’s what everybody is anticipating.”
The Blue Jays originally selected Sanchez in the first round (34th overall) of the 2010 MLB Draft.
