Sanchez 'ready to go' despite finger blister

A freshly popped finger blister likely contributed to Aaron Sanchez's lousy spring outing Monday at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium, but Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons is holding out hope the issue won't carry over to the regular season.

"Sanchy popped a blister on his finger, and I think it really affected him, but they swung it over there," Gibbons told MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm. "Hopefully it's not a big deal, but I do know it was very tender."

Sanchez, incidentally, didn't even mention the blister following his fourth Grapefruit League outing, instead declaring himself "ready to go" after allowing five runs on five hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies.

"Physically, I feel stronger than I've ever been," Sanchez said. "Obviously the work I did in the offseason, coming into camp and maintaining that, easing my way into games, I feel good. I feel strong. I feel ready to go. Just knocking down the days, I guess, from here."

Sanchez will now have nearly two weeks to allow his finger to heal, as the 24-year-old right-hander - brought along slowly this spring after shouldering a heavy workload in 2016 - will open the campaign in the fifth starter slot and isn't scheduled to make his regular-season debut until April 8.

Sanchez, who owns an 8.44 ERA and 0.89 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 10 2/3 innings this spring, emerged as one of the game's most promising young starters last year, finishing seventh in Cy Young voting after leading the American League with a 3.00 ERA (143 ERA+) over 192 innings.