Sanchez relishes pitching Blue Jays into WC: 'It was the best'
Seven months ago, the Toronto Blue Jays were torn about what do with Aaron Sanchez, the promising-but-erratic right-hander whose future, some said, ought to be in the bullpen despite his first-round pedigree and bowling-ball sinker.
Now, with his team less than 48 hours away from hosting the Baltimore Orioles in the American League wild-card game, Sanchez is Toronto's undisputed ace. What a difference a season makes, eh?
Sunday afternoon in Boston, as his club sought to lock down a wild-card berth and secure home-field advantage for the one-game playoff, Sanchez authored a fitting epilogue to a remarkable breakout campaign in which he not only established himself as a viable starter, but led the American League in ERA. In front of a crowd that showed up to say goodbye to David Ortiz, the hard-throwing 24-year-old stole the show, no-hitting the Red Sox through 6 2/3 innings before Hanley Ramirez's controversial solo shot snapped his bid at history.
Still, while his efforts to wave Ramirez's blast foul went for naught, Sanchez made it through the inning with no further damage, and ended up notching his 15th victory of the campaign after Troy Tulowitzki delivered a go-ahead, ultimately game-winning single in the top of the eighth.
"For it to come down to 162 and me to be out there, it was the best," Sanchez told Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith following his club's 2-1 victory at Fenway Park.
He continued: "I knew what this feeling was like from last year and I wasn't ready to go home. We worked too hard for it to come to an end like this. ... It's huge what we accomplished, but it's not over."
In an elated, suds-soaked visitor's clubhouse, praise for Sanchez flowed like Bud Light following his 23rd quality start of 2016, which moved him into a tie for third-most in the American League. Only Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello had more this year.
"He's one of the best pitchers in the game," Tulowitzki said. "He's nasty. I'm glad he's on my team."
As Tulowitzki suggested, the hitters unlucky enough to face Sanchez this season had an exceedingly tough time squaring him up. Though his strikeout rate was pretty much league average, Sanchez managed the fifth-highest ground-ball rate (55.1 percent) among qualified starters, while his average batted-ball distance (197 feet) ranked eighth-best.
AL ERA leaders, 2016
| PLAYER | ERA | WHIP | K/BB | GB% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Sanchez | 3.00 | 1.17 | 2.56 | 55.1 |
| Justin Verlander | 3.04 | 1.00 | 4.46 | 33.5 |
| Masahiro Tanaka | 3.07 | 1.08 | 4.71 | 48.2 |
| Corey Kluber | 3.14 | 1.06 | 3.98 | 44.5 |
| Rick Porcello | 3.15 | 1.01 | 5.91 | 43.1 |
On Sunday, Sanchez fell shy of joining Dave Stieb as the only players in Blue Jays history to record a no-hitter - but he did become the first Toronto pitcher to lead the league in ERA since Rogers Clemens in 1998. (He won his fourth of seven career Cy Young Awards that year, by the way).
In doing so, Sanchez helped ensure Toronto gets to play the wild-card game at Rogers Centre. Not bad for a kid who was battling with Gavin Floyd for Toronto's final rotation spot back in March.