Blue Jays' Sanchez flourishing in return to bullpen: 'I still have something to prove'

Aaron Sanchez is back in the Toronto Blue Jays' bullpen, and though it may not be the role he envisioned upon his return from the disabled list, the 23-year-old is proving his value.

"When I came back off the DL, I felt like I had something to prove," Sanchez told John Lott of the National Post. "I wanted to do it as a starter and I felt like I was coming into my own, and then I miss a month, and it's like I still have something to prove."

Sanchez began the season in the Blue Jays' rotation, starting 11 games with mixed results before a lat strain sidelined him in June.

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With Toronto's addition of David Price at the trade deadline, improved performances from the rest of the rotation, and a need for stabilization at the back end of the bullpen, the Jays needed Sanchez elsewhere - a move he learned to accept.

"At the start, I wasn't happy with it because I'd been coming back as a starter," he said. "But we're here now and it’s all good."

"They sat me down and told me the reasoning - we lost 15 games after the seventh inning prior to the All-Star break, and if we just win half of those we're in first place by seven games," Sanchez added. "So I understood."

Since returning to the bullpen, Sanchez has allowed just two hits and one earned run, while striking out nine in 9 2/3 innings of work.