With Aaron Sanchez joining the Toronto Blue Jays’ bullpen, he will be returning to a role that paradoxically could be both his best and least valuable.
As a late-inning reliever Sanchez can be an absolute weapon, but in theory he could make a greater contribution to the team by throwing more quality innings as a mid-rotation starter.
The debate over how to deploy the talented right-hander is far from over, but for now the Blue Jays feel the best way to use him is to patch up a bullpen with a nasty habit of blowing leads.
Regardless of where one stands on the issue, it’s easy to see the appeal of that strategy. Pitching as a reliever, Sanchez is a completely different–and more dangerous–pitcher. The results come in a small sample, but the splits are undeniable.
| Split | Innings Pitched | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | Ground Ball% | ERA | FIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| As a Starter | 66 | 5.73 | 5.05 | 1.09 | 58.1% | 3.55 | 5.14 |
| As a Reliever | 33 | 7.36 | 2.45 | 0.27 | 65.9% | 1.09 | 2.80 |
This change begins with a velocity increase that improves his fastball a couple ticks and bumps him up the rankings among his peers.
| Split | Average Fastball Velocity | MLB Rank |
|---|---|---|
| As a Starter | 94.4 mph | 16th among SP |
| As a Reliever | 97.1 mph | 5th among RP |
Whichever way you slice it, Sanchez is a top-notch power arm, but as a reliever his short max-effort bursts are virtually unparalleled.
Not only is his fastball improved when he comes out of the bullpen, he’s also able use the pitch more. Because he doesn’t need to face batters multiple times in a single game there is no need to set up hitters for future at-bats.
Sanchez features a fastball-heavy pitch mix regardless of his role, but as a reliever he threw one over 85 percent of the time and didn’t have to lean on less-refined secondary offerings that are more difficult to command.
| Split | Two-Seam% | Four-Seam% | Curveball% | Changeup% | Cutter% | Slider% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| As a Starter | 61.7% | 14.8% | 14.3% | 6.4% | 1.8% | 1.1% |
| As a Reliever | 69.5% | 18.7% | 11.0% | 0.9% | 0% | 0% |
With a fastball like this, simplicity is definitely a virtue. Throwing it as hard and as often as possible is a good strategy.
Combining the nasty downward movement on his two-seamer with his max-effort velocity, the right-hander was able to force opposing hitters to make consistently weak contact.
Inducing poorly hit balls is a hard skill to repeat and it’s worth remembering that Sanchez’s time in the bullpen came in a small sample of 33 innings.
Even so, the results were remarkable.
Sanchez allowed only two extra-base hits last season and the spray chart of balls hit off him suggests he rarely let opponents drive the ball.
It would be unbelievably difficult to replicate the .157 BABIP he allowed, but it’s possible to see how it happened given his ability to keep the ball in the infield.
As a starter this year, his opposition spray chart has been significantly less impressive as he allowed 10 times as many extra-base hits in only twice as many innings:
His ground ball rate remained strong as a starter and his BABIP sat at an above-average .260, but it wasn’t nearly as special as his work in 2014.
One underrated aspect of the difference between starting and relieving is the fact the manager can parachute the pitcher into favourable situations and out of bad ones.
In Sanchez’s case this is particularly significant because he has yet to figure out how to consistently retire left-handed hitters at the MLB level. So far in his career opposite-handed batters have rocked him to the tune of a .305/.417/.551 line with right-handers managing a meagre .167/.262/.212. It’s unlikely his platoon split will always be that wide, but it’s still better to keep him away from lefties whenever possible.
When he starts that’s impossible to do. This year, opponents have stacked their lineups with left-handers and he’s had the platoon advantage just 46 percent of the time. When John Gibbons was able to deploy him at will last season, 62 percent of the hitters he faced were right-handed.
Out of the bullpen, Sanchez can focus on maximizing his velocity while cutting down on off-speed filler and even has the opportunity to avoid tough left-handed bats. It’s not a surprise he excels.
By using Sanchez in a role where he’s likely to thrive, the Blue Jays are plugging one of the most significant holes on their team. Whether or not they’ve opened a bigger one remains to be seen.
