Sanchez may be held back until the Jays' home opener April 11 against Milwaukee when the team sets its rotation to begin the season, the Toronto Star reports.

EDGE Analysis

The Jays have brought Sanchez along slowly this spring, putting him slightly behind the team's other starting pitchers. The home opener will be the Jays' seventh game of 2017, while a pair of off-days built into the schedule will afford him extra rest if desired. Sanchez, who has been working on a changeup this spring, went 3.1 innings against the Orioles on Tuesday, but he struggled with his control and walked four batters despite holding the Baltimore lineup to one run and one hit.

Sanchez pitched 1.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and one walk while striking out one in Saturday's game against the Phillies.

EDGE Analysis

Sanchez's Grapefruit League debut lasted 31 pitches (19 strikes) and saw his fastball sit comfortably between 96-97 mph. He leaned heavily on his heater, as he does, but also mixed in a series of good curveballs and the occasional changeup, a pitch Sanchez has been diligently working on refining. Last year's breakout star used his changeup on less than 10 percent of his deliveries, but hopes to turn the off-speed pitch into a weapon this season.

In an effort to preserve his arm, Sanchez won't appear in any of the team's exhibition games during the first two weeks of spring training, the Toronto Star reports.

EDGE Analysis

After pitching his way into the Cy Young race last season, Sanchez was extended far beyond what the Jays' had originally planned for. The team wanted to move the young gun to the bullpen after the All Star break, but that option was thrown out the window when Sanchez turned into their best starter in 2016. With the regular season being 162 games and because spring training is arguably too long, pitching coach Pete Walker is taking imaginative steps to conserve some innings that count for his starting pitcher. "We plan on 200 innings from these guys," Walker said. "So if there's an opportunity for us ... obviously they have to be ready to go at the start of the season, but there is a way that you can kind of ease them into spring training and still get the workload that you need to be ready for the start of the season."

Sanchez will have no pitch-count or innings limitations in 2017, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

The 24-year-old enjoyed a breakout year with the Blue Jays in 2016, posting a 3.00 ERA and a 15-2 record in 192.0 innings, also earning him a seventh-place finish in the AL Cy Young voting. Toronto has eased Sanchez into the majors, skipping some of his starts as the season progressed. Expect him to put together a strong season in 2017 as he will finally be looking forward to a full season without an innings limit.

Sanchez has been working alongside the Jays' high performance team to build lower body strength, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports.

EDGE Analysis

Sanchez has been putting in the extra work at the Jays' Dunedin complex. Through the workouts, the 24-year-old has reportedly improved his vertical jump, range of motion and power. Sanchez put in similar efforts last offseason, and that was rewarded with a career year in 2016 that ended with a seventh-place finish in the AL Cy Young voting.

Sanchez pitched six innings, allowing one run on two hits and two walks while striking out five Indians to pick up the win in Game 4 of the ALCS on Tuesday.

EDGE Analysis

The surprise ace of the staff delivered a beautiful quality outing in the most important start of his short career. Down 3-0, Sanchez kept the series (and the season) alive for the Jays. The AL's ERA champion finished his outing with three perfect innings to outduel Indians' ace Corey Kluber. Sanchez isn't scheduled to pitch the rest of the series, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see him work out of the bullpen if the team can extend the ALCS to a Game 7.

Sanchez will start Game 4 of the ALCS against Cleveland on Tuesday, Ben Nicholson-Smith of SportsNet reports.

EDGE Analysis

As expected, Sanchez will take the mound for the Blue Jays when they face the Indians on Tuesday. Sanchez will head into the game with a 3.00 ERA and 1.17 WHIP for the season. However, he struggled in his one matchup against Cleveland this year when he gave up five runs (four earned) over four innings.

Sanchez will likely start Game 4 of the ALCS, meaning he'd only make one start during the series versus Cleveland, the Toronto Star reports.

EDGE Analysis

The Jays announced Marco Estrada would open the series as Friday's starter, but have been mum on the rotation past that. Manager John Gibbons hinted Tuesday that Sanchez would "probably" be the one-start guy, but didn't offer much reason for such a decision, leaving one to assume the club is still closely monitoring the 24-year-old's innings. Sanchez currently sits at 197.2 innings and prior to the season, team president Mark Shapiro made clear that he wasn't willing to push the young gun into the 220-inning range. That said, Sanchez has been a Cy Young candidate for most of the campaign and when push comes to shove, they'll need him to win a World Series. This may be the last opportunity to have control over the 15-game winner's workload, and interestingly enough, making the start in Game 4 of the ALCS would line Sanchez up for two potential World Series outings.

Sanchez pitched 5.2 innings, allowing six runs on three hits -- including two homers -- and four walks while striking out five in Sunday's victory over Texas in the ALDS. He did not factor in the decision.

EDGE Analysis

Sunday marked the right-hander's first career start in the postseason. During the Jays playoff run last year, Sanchez made a name for himself by not allowing an earned run in nine appearances. Maybe nerves got to the 24-year-old, as his performance against the Rangers was a far cry from what he had done over his recent starts. In Sanchez's final three regular season games, he allowed just three earned runs in 19 innings while notching 21 strikeouts. Among qualified starters during the regular season, Sanchez led the AL in ERA (3.00) and finished ninth in WHIP (1.17), so a better performance should be on tap when he takes the hill for the ALCS.

Sanchez (15-2) took a no-hitter into the seventh inning Sunday, eventually allowing one run on two hits and two walks while striking out six over seven innings in a 2-1 win over the Red Sox.

EDGE Analysis

Hanley Ramirez spoiled his chance at making history with a solo home run, but otherwise Boston's bats were completely silenced by Sanchez. The 24-year-old finishes the regular season with a 3.00 ERA and 161:63 K:BB in 192 innings and, despite concerns expressed by the Blue Jays earlier in the year about his workload, will be a key member of their postseason rotation should they win Tuesday's Wild Card Game against the Orioles.