Sanchez joins growing list of pitchers limited by innings
The Toronto Blue Jays optioned All-Star right-hander Aaron Sanchez to the minor leagues Sunday in what looked to be at first, a surprising move, but was really one the club had pondered for weeks.
With Sanchez already pitching more than any other season of his career, and the Blue Jays interested in having him available late in the season and potentially into the postseason, the move was made to limit the hurler's innings while freeing up a roster spot on the big-league club.
The 24-year-old isn't the first pitcher to be overly protected by his employer though, and surely he won't be the last. Here are three other important arms who had their innings restricted by their clubs:
Stephen Strasburg
Incidentally, one day after the decision to send Sanchez down, Stephen Strasburg hit the disabled list thanks to elbow soreness, his second trip of the season. Strasburg, a Tommy John recovery story, had his innings limited in 2012 amid some controversy as the Washington Nationals shut down the youngster while still in a division-title race. Strasburg ended 2012 tossing 159 1/3 innings and could have been a factor in the NLDS where the Nationals fell to the St. Louis Cardinals after blowing a two-game series lead. Instead, the Nationals starter pushed his innings total north to 183 and 215 innings in his next two seasons respectively, before signing a $175-million extension this past May.
Jose Fernandez
For the first time since 2009, the Miami Marlins are serious contenders for a wild-card spot in the NL, and much of that has to do with right-hander Jose Fernandez, who has posted a 12-7 record with a 3.05 ERA and owns the top strikeout-per-nine-inning rate in baseball. But, according to Marlins brass, the hurler won't pitch more than 180 innings as he's two years removed from Tommy John, which should force Miami to get creative and could potentially hurt its chances of making the playoffs. Fernandez plans to have Scott Boras in his corner to help with any decision, despite the Marlins stating in the off-season the agent would not directly be involved in discussions surrounding the pitcher's workload. "I do not know what all this is all about, but Scott Boras will be there because he's my agent, and I get to decide who is going to be on my phone calls," Fernandez said in November. "It's that simple."
Matt Harvey
No innings-limit story of recent memory caused more of a stir than that of Matt Harvey last season. Boras, the agent of the 27-year-old who underwent Tommy John in 2013, told the Mets his client shouldn't surpass 180 innings on the season in order to protect his health, despite the New York club being in the midst of a heated playoff race. The Mets claimed they had a plan in place so Harvey could pitch late in the season, and into the postseason if necessary, but weeks of bickering between the two sides led to a controversial time in The Bronx. Harvey ended up throwing 216 innings between the regular and postseason as the Mets reached the World Series, although his 2016 campaign ended abruptly after just 92 2/3 innings, thanks to thoracic outlet syndrome.
Who's next?
With innings limits becoming more of a regular discussion to protect the well-being of young, up-and-coming pitching studs, organizations are already taking precautions with some of the game's future stars. Detroit Tigers right-hander Michael Fulmer for instance, owns the best ERA in the American League, but at just 23 years old and never having pitched more than 124 innings in his professional career, the Tigers are already playing with fire as he's surpassed that mark.
The Dodgers are in a conundrum of their own, with top prospect Julio Urias, whose been forced into major-league duty well ahead of schedule due to a plethora of injuries to Dodgers pitchers. The 20-year-old has never pitched more than 87 innings in a season, and is already 15 innings past this point.
Finally, the Mets are going to need to start thinking about what to do with Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz, and Zack Wheeler if they're interested in preserving the futures of what could be the game's most dominant starting staff for a long time. All four pitchers have reasons to have their innings limited (recovering from injury, fatigue), and New York will need to think about it closely, to avoid having another Harvey situation on their hands.