MLB: 30 Players That Need to Stay Healthy
By Phil Kimmel
Aaron Sanchez
Of course we could say that Josh Donaldson going down with an injury would be a blow to the Blue Jays. But, let’s think outside of the box for a moment. Without Sanchez, the Jays are in serious trouble. While their rotation is pretty solid with the likes of Marcus Stroman, J.A. Happ, Marco Estrada, and Francisco Liriano. It cannot be denied how much Sanchez means to this rotation and this team.
Last season, when Sanchez pitched a complete five innings, the Jays lost one game. One game was all that could be taken from Sanchez, proving, if you do not knock him out of the game early, you are more than likely going to lose. Over the course of 192 innings, Sanchez pitched to a 3.00 ERA and a 15-2 season. That’s pretty phenomenal.
The real problem comes down to, can his arm take the workload? In 2014 Sanchez pitched 33 innings and saw that nearly triple in 2015 to a total of 92.1 IP. 2016, however, saw that number double up to a whopping 192 IP. That’s a rather quick ramp up of innings for someone who has been working out of the bullpen periodically.
We will have to see what the season holds, but moving to that large of a workload so quickly may be something to watch.