Aaron Sanchez was scheduled to start Monday’s series-opener against the Houston Astros, but now Marco Estrada will be bumped up to fill in his place. Sanchez visited a finger specialist on the weekend, according to Shi Davidi, to have his right index finger re-examined.
That right index finger, of course, is the same one that was attacked by the suitcase earlier on in the season. Thankfully, I guess, this doesn’t appear to be the same finger blister that derailed his entire season in 2017. That was his right middle finger, while this issue is his right index finger.
We don’t yet know if or when Sanchez will pitch again this season. Given the fact there’s only a week left in the season, we may have seen the last of Sanchez in 2018. If that’s the case, he’ll finish the year with a 4-6 record, a 4.89 ERA, and a worrying 5.0 walks to 7.4 strikeouts per nine.
It’s obviously really unfortunate how things have gone for Sanchez over the past couple years because it looked like he was evolving into an ace back in 2016. Even earlier this season Sanchez looked like he had his blister issues behind him. He started 2018 with four quality starts in his first five outings, but then noticeably started to struggle with command and velocity.
At this point, I’m not really sure what to expect from Sanchez next season. Can you really even pencil him into the rotation as a guaranteed, full season starter? As of right now, Toronto will be rolling with Sanchez, Stroman, and possibly all of Ryan Borucki, Sean Reid-Foley, and Thomas Pannone, which certainly isn’t ideal. You’d like to add a veteran free agent to keep either SRF or Pannone down in Triple-A, and you might have to consider adding another veteran starter to mitigate the risk of Sanchez not being able to pitch a full season for the third year in a row.
I’ve mentioned a few times on here. I think the Jays need to see what they have in Sanchez next season or perhaps the first half of the season. I think over the winter, they should talk to him and let him know that perhaps his future may be as the closer, but they still want to give him a chance next year. I know the team is rebuilding, and you don’t really need an elite closer. But let Sanchez have half a season to see if things are improving. Or let him have the full season. But if he is still injury free and struggling, it’s time to make the transition. Yes, it would mean they really need to find some more pitching over the winter to replace him if he does go to the pen. I know this is arm chair management, but with 2 straight years of injuries and ongoing control issues, perhaps going back to where he first found success at the mlb level might be the answer. Or I don’t know, let him be him, make 2019 more about growth and getting another high draft pick in 2020 and talk to him over the winter of 2019. The interesting thing, will be, if it happens, how does it play out with Boras? I imagine he would want Sanchez to stay as a starter, in hopes of the bigger paydays.