Toronto Blue Jays promote top prospect Aaron Sanchez
By Hayden Kane
The Toronto Blue Jays would have to seriously consider trading top pitching prospect Aaron Sanchez if they were going to get in the mix for guys like David Price or Cliff Lee. Perhaps that is still a possibility in the days leading up to the July 31st deadline, but for now the Blue Jays want to see how he does on their own big league club first.
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On Tuesday the team promoted Sanchez from Triple-A. They will deploy him out of the bullpen initially.
“I was caught off-guard, just as much as probably everybody here was,” Sanchez told MLB.com. “But I’m excited to be here, I’m ready to contribute any way that I can. This is what I dreamt for my whole life. I don’t think the age for me matters, it’s about hard work and dedication to this game. Always wanting to learn, staying hungry and I think that’s what it took.”
The Blue Jays are following the model of certain teams in handling a top prospect by having the 22-year-old Sanchez work out of the ‘pen upon his initial promotion. Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com notes that the Blue Jays would like to limit Sanchez to about 130 total innings this year, and he has already thrown more than 100 in the minor leagues.
Drafted by the Blue Jays in 2010, Sanchez has shot through the minor league levels over the last couple seasons. After finishing the 2013 season in high-A ball, he spent only 14 starts in Double-A in 2014 before moving up to Triple-A. From there he made only eight appearances, six of them starts, before getting the call. He owned a 3.82 ERA in Double-A this season, with a 4.19 ERA in Triple-A.
The Blue Jays could use reinforcements on their pitching staff, and they will like to get a boost internally from Sanchez.