After four months of publicly stating that at some point this season, Aaron Sanchez would be transitioned to a reliever role as a way of managing his workload – a debate that came to a head this week when first Russell Martin expressed his disapproval of the decision – general manager Ross Atkins has announced that Sanchez will remain in the rotation for the foreseeable future.
Atkins says Sanchez stays in rotation for time being
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) August 4, 2016
In order to facilitate Sanchez remaining in the rotation while also limiting his workload, the Jays will employ a six-man rotation for the time being, a decision that was made with agreement from the other starters. Newly acquired Francisco Liriano is also willing to pitch out of the bullpen if need be. Sanchez will continue to be monitored from start to start, but if he continues to pitch as he has and feel good, he’ll remain as a starter.
They will evaluate start to start to ensure he's not showing signs of fatigue, but if things continue as they have he'll remain a starter.
— Brendan Kennedy (@BKennedyStar) August 4, 2016
The announcement puts to rest, at least for now, the hotly-contested issue of how a team in contention for the postseason manages the workload of its twenty-four year old star pitcher. Sanchez, who had never thrown more than 133 1/3 innings in his career, surpassed that total during his last outing, signalling the beginning of the end of his time in the rotation. Both Atkins and team president Mark Shapiro have remained adamant that Sanchez would have to transition to the bullpen in order to protect his arm from fatigue and damage that could potentially lead to injury, whether now or in the future. The wisdom was that it was of greater benefit to the team for Sanchez to continue pitching out of the bullpen rather than wearing down and having to be shut down altogether. As recently as yesterday, the front office has spoken publicly about the decision, stating on separate occasions that the move to the bullpen was inevitable.
Not everyone within the organization was on board with this plan, as made evident on Tuesday when Russell Martin stated openly that he did not like the decision, saying that he had yet to see signs from Sanchez that he was fatiguing. To further complicte matters, manager John Gibbons spoke to the media yesterday, responding to a reporter’s question with “Truthfully, we’re still debating what’s going to actually happen…The total plan, you know? Nothing’s locked in stone yet.” Naturally, this set off a firestorm of speculation which prompted Ross Atkins to travel to Houston today to meet with Sanchez, Gibbons and pitching coach Pete Walker. One could assume that based on that conversation, and whatever displeasure had been voiced by the rest of the clubhouse, led to the about face today.
Regardless of the reasons why, Aaron Sanchez is going to stay in the rotation. He is having a Cy Young calibre season, and if he keeps it up, he could be taking the ball in game one of the postseason.
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