The Blue Jays haven’t made an Aaron Sanchez decision yet

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Back in June, the Blue Jays stated that their best pitcher, Aaron Sanchez, would be going to the bullpen later on in the year because of his workload. They weren’t sure exactly when — sometime after the All-Star break was as far as they got — but it was definitely going to happen — their words, even. It’s now Aug. 4. The Jays added Francisco Liriano at the trade deadline, presumably to replace Sanchez. Or, maybe not, since it turns out the Jays haven’t made a decision on Sanchez one way or another.

We’ve gone from “going to happen” to “Nothing’s locked in stone yet” and “I have no info for you right at this moment” out of the mouth of manager John Gibbons. That’s even weirder since general manager Ross Atkins specifically discussed how Liriano’s acquisition helped the Jays with the inevitable move of Sanchez to the pen, and President Mark Shapiro was on the radio saying Sanchez isn’t going to have a full season as a starter as recently as Tuesday.

It feels like the move is still inevitable, and the Jays are just squeezing every last start they can out of Sanchez amid a tight AL East race. Sanchez’s career high for innings has already been met — he’s at 139, he tossed 102 last year between the majors and minors, and his previous high was 109 back in 2013. He can still get hurt in the bullpen, as Grant Brisbee mentioned when this debate first arose, but at the same time, having him pitch even more doesn’t necessarily seem like the best way to avoid future injury if that’s the goal. With Toronto just a game back of the Orioles, though, and the Red Sox only two games behind them, maybe the goals are shifting.