Aaron Sanchez delivers a pitch in the first inning of Monday’s game against the Padres.Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
Aaron Sanchez continues to pitch his way into the Cy Young conversation for the Toronto Blue Jays this season with each stellar outing.
Too bad he probably won't be around long enough to have a chance to reap the hardware as the American League's best starting pitcher.
Despite dominating start after dominating start – like the one he posted Monday night in a 4-2 Blue Jays upending of the San Diego Padres at Rogers Centre – the 24-year-old's future is destined to be in the bullpen in order to protect his precious, young arm.
The Blue Jays have long stated that this was their intention for Sanchez, who logged just 92.1 innings last season but is now over the 130-inning plateau with his seven-inning gem against the Padres.
The confusion – or controversy if you like -- stems from the fact that the Blue Jays have not stipulated when they intend on making the move, just that it's coming.
With Sanchez's record now at 11-1 after shutting out the Padres over seven innings while allowing three hits and striking out seven, Toronto manager John Gibbons is tiring of being asked where his pitcher's future lies.
"I'm not talking about that any more," the manager groused after Monday's game. "If it happens you'll know about it. If not, quit asking."
Gibbons's demeanor brightened somewhat when asked instead about Sanchez's most recent performance.
"Fantastic," Gibbons said. "Really, he's having some kind of year. He's put himself in the elite class of baseball at a young age, very little experience.
"You look at tonight, he didn't give up many hits. He gave up those little infield bleeders. He's got such great life on his fastball that it's tough to square him up. And he threw his curveballs over to keep everybody honest and gave them some good changeups.
"He's really coming into his own I think, just scratching the surface."
Sanchez, whose earned run average is down to 2.72 on the year, has now allowed three hits or fewer in six of his 20 starts this season. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven straight starts.
And it is not just the Blue Jays who are singing his praises.
"He's special, he really is," said Padres manager Andy Green, adding that Sanchez has "legit top of the rotation stuff."
Added San Diego leftfielder Alex Dickerson: "He was nasty today. It's probably some of the best stuff I've personally seen to this point in my career. Real late life on his fastball, something you can't really teach."
While Sanchez relishes being a starter as opposed to pitching out of the bullpen, where he has also had success in previous years, he is not about to second guess the plans that the Blue Jays have in store for him.
"My job is to pitch for the Toronto Blue Jays and wherever that may be that's where it's going to be." Sanchez said. "Obviously there's been a lot of talk about that [moving to the bullpen].
"But I've said it time and time again, when the time comes that's when we'll worry about it. Right now, I'll continue to work hard, work smart, and take the ball every five days."
Sanchez appears to understand where the Blue Jays are coming from on this one.
He said the last thing he wants is to fall into a situation like that of Matt Harvey, the one-time New York Mets ace who recently underwent shoulder surgery that has ended his season.
There has been speculation that Harvey's injury was brought on by pitching overuse in 2015 when he logged almost 190 innings during the regular season and then another 26.2 during the Mets run to the World Series.
"You've got to look long term with this," Sanchez said. "I'm not just here to pitch in 2016. I'm here to pitch five-six-seven (years), however long it is. That's the situation and the talks that are being talked about. We've got to understand what's best for me down the road. There's no perfect science to this.
"Like I said before, you see what's going on with Harvey and guys like that and you don't want to fall into a scenario like that. It's so much of the not knowing I guess you could say. So, like I said, when the time comes I want to continue to work hard and work on getting better."