Jays’ Sanchez drops appeal but maintains he didn’t intentionally hit batter

TORONTO – Aaron Sanchez maintains he didn’t hit a batter intentionally, explaining the decision to drop the appeal of his suspension was made more for timing.

The Toronto Blue Jays reliever was ejected from Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Royals for hitting Alcides Escobar, and Major League Baseball suspended him for three games.

Sanchez began serving the suspension Wednesday, will miss one more against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday and then the series opener at the American League East-leading New York Yankees on Friday.

Sanchez initially launched an appeal because he insisted his fastball got away from him and that he did not intend to hit Escobar after umpire Jim Wolf had warned the Blue Jays and Royals earlier in the game. But after pitching four times in six days, the Blue Jays told the righty he’d have two days off, and he opted to take the suspension rather than wait out the appeals process.

“It just made sense,” Sanchez said Thursday afternoon. “I just want this behind me. I’ve got 24 other guys to fight with for another two months and hopefully longer, and that’s what my objective is to do is to get this behind me and worry about what’s at hand and that’s winning ballgames with these guys.”

The 23-year-old is eligible to return Saturday for the second game of the Blue Jays’ series at Yankee Stadium.

Manager John Gibbons said this probably wasn’t the best three-game stretch for Sanchez to miss given that the Twins and Yankees are also in the playoff race, but the timing combined with having an eight-man bullpen in place contributed to the Blue Jays making this call.

It was a group decision that included Sanchez, Gibbons, general manager Alex Anthopoulos and then the MLB Players Association.

“We talked about it, and he was in agreement,” Gibbons said. “We’ll just say, ‘Hey, let’s get it over with it and get it behind us. Now you don’t have to worry about it.’”

Major League Baseball didn’t explain to Sanchez why they judged that he intentionally threw at Escobar, and he again maintained his innocence and wants the chance to explain himself.

“I still would like to talk to somebody about it,” Sanchez said. “With that being said, I don’t know if I will or not. It’s behind me now. I’ll take my three games and I’ll move on and focus on winning a championship with this team.”

Once Sanchez is back, the Blue Jays could look to shed a reliever and go back to the more traditional seven-man bullpen. Right now the only extras are shortstop Munenori Kawasaki and whoever’s not catching on a given day between Russell Martin and Dioner Navarro.

“I don’t think it’s ideal when you have eight (relievers) down there because you can have that extra guy on the bench,” Gibbons said. “Really we don’t have another true outfielder on the club.”

That outfielder could be Ezequiel Carrera, who cleared waivers earlier in the week and is currently at Triple-A Buffalo.

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