Aaron Sanchez deservedly earned himself a spot in the Toronto Blue Jays' starting rotation to begin the 2016 season. However, in an effort to manage his workload, the right-hander will likely return to his former role as a reliever at some point down the road.
Sanchez, 23, is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 19 strikeouts in 20 innings this spring after going 7-6 with a 3.22 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 61 strikeouts in 41 games (11 starts), totaling 92⅓ innings, which was shy of his career-high in innings pitched from 2014 (133⅓ IP).
As a result, manager John Gibbons said Monday that the team will look to monitor Sanchez throughout 2016.
"We'll keep an eye on that and there's a good chance he'll be in that rotation the whole year," he said. "We won't lay out what the actual plan is, but we've got to be smart. You increase it too much, it's probably harmful, and in the end if we need to put him down there in the bullpen, we're that much stronger down there, too."
Gibbons also said Sanchez will "be here all year," which indicates he probably won't be in the rotation for the entire season if he's going to remain on the MLB roster. Last season MLB starters averaged 5.8 IP per outing, so assuming Sanchez makes at least 30 starts, that will take him close to the 180 mark. It's unclear if the Jays want to exceed his innings by that much, but based on the way pitchers are getting injured nowadays, they might want to properly stretch him out in 2016 to prepare for him to start in subsequent seasons.
Additionally, Sanchez is familiar with the bullpen and actually excelled in the role over the past two seasons (1.67 ERA, 0.78 WHIP in 54 games). Toronto has a number of pitchers (Gavin Floyd, Jesse Chavez, Drew Hutchison) that can replace the right-hander once the team decides he's had enough as a starter, so the rotation may not take as significant as a hit as previously expected.
Such a plan could work out nicely as relievers Brett Cecil and Aaron Loup look to get back up to speed after dealing with injuries. Once they're at full strength, adding Sanchez would only fortify that unit and possibly balance out the pitching staff.
But then there's this:
Aaron Sanchez won competition, clearly. But if he's one of TOR's best Ps and runs out of rotation innings in by Oct., there will be regret
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) March 28, 2016
This won't be easy to monitor or manage and the Jays will have to make some sacrifices. However, it's safe to say they made the right decision in starting Sanchez in the rotation to begin the season because that's where he's projected to contribute most during his tenure with Toronto.
