Atkins, Blue Jays say Sanchez’s bullpen move coming soon

Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins made it clear following Monday’s trade deadline that Aaron Sanchez is headed to the bullpen sooner rather than later.

In adding Francisco Liriano from the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Blue Jays have found Sanchez’s replacement in the rotation when that time comes. The addition of Mike Bolsinger from the Los Angeles Dodgers will serve as triple-A level depth, similar to the role that Drew Hutchison occupied before being included in the Liriano deal. 


Sanchez is still scheduled to make his next start on Friday in Kansas City, but beyond that, the door is officially open to his bullpen transition.

Currently the American League leader in ERA at 2.71 with an 11-1 record, Sanchez’s 139.1 innings represent a career high. A careful balance that the organization must strike is finding the right time to transition him, because it’s vital that he still has enough endurance to be a valuable bullpen piece down the stretch.

Injury risk remains a real factor out of the bullpen, of course, where Sanchez will be maxing out for one or two innings at a time instead of maintaining his output over a full start. The most difficult part of this conversation is that, unlike many things in baseball, the proper handling of a young arm is still an inexact science. Looking around the league at other arms like Matt Hatt Harvey, it’s obviously still a work in progress.

Expect the current rotation picture to gain clarity over the coming day, but for now, it appears as if Liriano will not be used as a member of the starting five in Toronto’s rotation. The potential exists for Liriano to work in long relief or as a member of a six-man rotation, but the latter could stretch the Blue Jays’ depth rather thin.

More (much more) on this story as it unfolds over the coming week.