Manger John Gibbons removed Aaron Sanchez from his start last night with a developing blister, the manager told media following the game. Sanchez, who pitched four innings and allowed three earned runs, was throwing in his third consecutive start for the first time this season, thanks to roughly seven weeks spent on the disabled list.
“It just started forming mid-way through the game, and I kept going and it got worse,” Sanchez told Arash Madani of Sportsnet. “I think the right thing to do was to kind of catch it before things got worse.
“It’s definitely frustrating, but if I dwell on this I’ll beat myself up more than I really need to,” Sanchez said. “I can’t control really what I do once the ball leaves the finger. It’s one of those things where, hopefully, it hardens up and I’m good to go in five days.”
Rob Wong on Twitter recently found a video of Al Leiter talking about blisters, how they form, and how to prevent them on MLB Network. It’s a good way to spend eight minutes of your time.
Joe Smith required one more rehab outing with the Buffalo Bisons last night, despite previous reports. Smith, targeting 10-15 pitches, gave up an RBI double and soft single in his one inning of work. Ben Wagner tweets that Smith was “erratic in the zone,” throwing nine out of 14 pitches as strikes.
Smith is expected to return to the Blue Jays on Friday when the team heads to Cleveland.
The Blue Jays placed Mike Bolsinger on the 10-day disabled list with left knee inflammation yesterday evening, just one day after Bolsinger gave up the game-winning home run in the 15th inning to Hanley Ramirez. In a corresponding move, Toronto recalled Cesar Valdez.
The purpose of the move, although attributed to an injury, was likely to clear a spot on the roster for a fresh pitcher. Bolsinger is out of options, meaning he would be forced to clear waivers prior to reporting to triple-A Buffalo. By placing him on the disabled list, the Blue Jays avoid losing Bolsinger and add a new pitcher to the roster.
Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reports that the Blue Jays are unlikely to move “controllable assets” like Josh Donaldson or Marcus Stroman, unless the team is “completely overwhelmed” by offers. Additionally, the Royals have been linked to Blue Jay starting pitcher Marco Estrada, Cotillo tweets.
Other news:
- Canadians Andrew Case and Tom Robson have been promoted to triple-A Buffalo and double-A New Hampshire, respectively.
- The Red Sox released Pablo Sandoval yesterday. Sandoval was thought to have signed a minor-league deal with the San Francisco Giants, although he denied the report.
Follow Mark on Twitter @MarkColley.