BALTIMORE – The pattern suggests Aaron Sanchez will be a high-walk pitcher over the course of his career but as the 21-year-old takes his next and perhaps final minor league step, the man who hopes to manage Sanchez in the big leagues isnt concerned. "Hes got that big-time arm and his big pitch is his sinking fastball," said Gibbons. "Theres a lot of life to that. Thats a tough pitch to command and keep in the zone a lot. He may be one of those guys his whole career who walks guys. That doesnt mean he cant pitch at this level and be very good because those ground balls, you can erase some of those walks and those hits with one pitch." Sanchez joins the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons after making 14 starts for Double-A New Hampshire. He posted a 3.82 ERA and a 1.394 WHIP but talk centered on Sanchezs walk rate, which sat five-and-a-half per nine innings. "Hes still a baby. Hes still learning. He hasnt logged a lot of innings in the minor leagues yet," said Gibbons. "He may be one of those guys who walks some guys. I dont think thats necessarily, I mean youd rather not but I dont think thats a bad thing. I dont think thats a killer. Lets put it that way." This is nothing new. At any of Sanchezs seven stops in the Blue Jays chain so far, hes never had a better walk rate than 3.8 per nine innings. That came in 2011 with Bluefield of the Single-A Appalachian League. He was 18 years old at the time. Sanchez threw 109 2/3 innings last season, New Hampshire and the Arizona Fall League combined, and has already tossed 66 innings this season. A 20 per cent year-over-year increase would cap Sanchez at about 130 innings. A 30 per cent spike would see Sanchez stop at a little more than 140 innings. The Blue Jays have a plan. Whatever it is, Gibbons is being mum. "Thats none of your business," he said, before adding, "Hes still learning. Hes still developing. Hes in the minor leagues for a reason. Hes making his start every five days. Hes working through his career. When that career begins, who knows? Every pitcher in baseball in the minor leagues, I mean teams are conscious of the workload because there are so many injuries." MASTROIANNI BACK WHERE IT BEGAN Darin Mastroianni met the Blue Jays in Baltimore, his contract selected to serve as the fourth outfielder when Bobby Korecky was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. A 16th round pick of Toronto in the 2007 amateur draft, Mastroianni made his major league debut with the Blue Jays – his only game with Toronto – on August 24, 2011. He moved on to Minnesota, appearing in 114 games for the Twins in two-plus seasons. "Its really nice to be back with Toronto," said Mastroianni. "Obviously, whenever you get a chance to come back to a team that gave you your start and I made my big league debut with them, its always exciting to come back and play with an organization like that." Its been a trying year and a half for Mastroianni since he fouled a Joe Kelly pitch off his left shin in a spring training game in 2013. He suffered an avulsion fracture but tried to play through it. He was shut down in April and underwent surgery in May. Even though he returned late in the season the procedure didnt take and Mastroianni underwent a second surgery last November. He cleared waivers in December but appeared in seven April games with the Twins before being designated for assignment. Thats when the Blue Jays claimed him off waivers. "I didnt really know what was going to happen," said Mastroianni. "Obviously you hope you get a chance; that someone would want you and it was exciting to know that the Blue Jays felt that they wanted me to come over here and I was even more excited to get that call (Wednesday) that I was going to join them here." Mastroianni is a base stealer. He swiped 21 bases in 24 attempts for the Twins in 2012. His performance in Buffalo since his acquisition has allayed any fears his foot surgeries have affected his speed. Mastroianni has 14 stolen bases in 16 tries. The Blue Jays arent scheduled to face any starting left-handed pitching on the road trip or when the club returns home to face the Yankees on June 23 and so a strict bench role appears to be in Mastroiannis future. Regardless, hes excited. "This is kind of new territory for me," said Mastroianni. "Ive never been on a team thats in first place. Its kind of new. Its exciting for me. I always felt that my role on a team was to help teams win late in the game, whether its pinch-run, defence, whatever and its exciting if that is the role to be on a team when you can actually impact and really help a team win baseball games." GIBBONS PRAISES BAUTISTA Whether the club is running hot or cold and regardless of whether Jose Bautista is streaking or slumping at the plate, manager John Gibbons said his star player sets the right example. "When your top dog or one of your top guys, their mindset is they show up everyday, man, they lay it out there, thats important because its not always the case," said Gibbons. "Not just in this sport, any sport, if your top guy does things the right way, everybody falls behind that. When they do it the wrong way, everybody falls that way too and that can work against you." Bautista, as he has for most of the season, continues to lead baseball in on-base percentage (.434 entering Thursdays action). His seven outfield assists are second only to Oaklands Yoenis Cespedes. "He does everything right," said Gibbons. "He prepares himself. Hes into it. He doesnt take an inning off." RASMUS BEGINS REHAB ASSIGNMENT Colby Rasmus served as the designated hitter in Triple-A Buffalos 11-0 win at Toledo on Thursday night. In four plate appearances, he went 1-for-3 with a single, a walk and a strikeout. The plan is for Rasmus to play five innings in centerfield on Friday and play another full game at designated hitter on Saturday. At that point Rasmus right hamstring will be evaluated, possibly paving the way for his return to the Blue Jays early next week. . -- Among the 31 players at the Montreal Canadiens rookie camp, none feels closer to cracking the NHL roster than right winger Aaron Palushaj. . The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the league hasnt announced the award. Crawford was the Clippers third-leading scorer and the NBAs top-scoring reserve with 18.
http://www.cheappanthersjerseysonline.c ... sey-online. "I just think what it does for everybody in life is real simple," said Babcock early on Friday afternoon. "You dont give in. You just keep on keeping on. Is it going to go your way every time? No. But you choose your attitude and how you perform and how hard you dig in." Nearly four years to the day of the 2010 gold medal match in Vancouver, his team dug in with its best effort of these Olympics, snuffing out the high-powered Americans for another opportunity at gold. . The rest of the team was already on the field stretching before batting practice while Puig was getting dressed in the clubhouse. He had been slated to start in right field for the afternoon game against the San Francisco Giants, who beat the Dodgers 8-4. . He had even more fun Friday. Coming off a sensational rookie season, Spieth opened the new year by never coming close to bogey and making a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 7-under 66.(SportsNetwork.com) - Before the Memphis Grizzlies hit the road for the majority of February, they will close out January versus the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder Saturday at FedExForum. The Grizzlies are scheduled to play three straight and seven of the next nine games away from home and will put a five-game winning streak on the line Saturday night. The Grizzlies recorded a 99-69 demolition of the Denver Nuggets Thursday, as Zach Randolph muscled his way to 15 points and 17 rebounds. Randolph has recorded a double-double in 11 straight games and has 27 on the season. Jeff Green netted 13 points, while Marc Gasol added 10 points and seven rebounds for Memphis, which has won nine of its last 10 games and led by as many as 33 in the fourth quarter. Defensively, I thought we have taken another notch, Gasol said. Memphis, which improved to 20-5 at home, has held its last five opponents under 100 points. The Grizzlies are 20-7 against teams from the West. Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley (wrist) is questionable Saturday and has missed back-to-back games. Conley is averaging 17.4 points and 5.6 assists. Veteran Vince Carter (foot) is doubtful versus the Thunder. The Thunder have lost three of ttheir last four games after winning four in a row, and will try to get back on track Saturday night.ddddddddddddKevin Durant has missed back-to-back games with a toe injury and is questionable against the Grizzlies. In a 100-92 loss at New York, Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Knicks. Russell Westbrook poured in 40 points and made all 12 of his free throws to pace the Thunder. Reggie Jackson scored 13 points off the bench and Serge Ibaka added 10 and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma City, which made 40 percent from the floor and turned the ball over 14 times for 20 New York points. We just gave them too many opportunities, Westbrook said. They got a lot of offensive rebounds. (We) made some mistakes defensively. The Thunder fell to 9-16 this season when Durant misses a game. Thunder guard Dion Waiters (ankle) is probable Saturday. OKC is 10-16 on the road and will return home to host the Orlando Magic on Monday. Oklahoma City lost the first of four meetings with Memphis by a 91-89 score on Nov. 7, as Conley scored 20 points. Jackson had 22 in that one for the Thunder, who were without Durant and Westbrook. The Thunder and Grizzlies will meet again Feb. 11 and April 3. ' ' '
