The Blue Jays have moved on from Jesus Sanchez, and that should be the end of the conversation for the Astros.
Toronto designated Sanchez for assignment today, cutting bait on a trade that never delivered. Houston, meanwhile, has already signaled its own answer by showing no urgency to bring back Joey Loperfido. If the name Jesus Sanchez lands on the waiver wire, the Astros ought to have only one response: no thanks.
On paper, Sanchez’s season line doesn’t look disastrous at first glance. He’s sitting at .260 with a .318 OBP and a .734 OPS.
But the deeper you go, the uglier it gets. Since June, he has been a mess.
In June, he hit .229 with a .288 OBP and a .643 OPS, finishing the month with 1 HR and 1 RBI. Then came an ankle sprain that kept him out for a month.
He returned July 31, but August brought more of the same: a .220 average, 1 HR, 5 RBI, and just 2 runs scored. In September, he’s 2-for-11, which works out to .182.
The bat has been quiet for months. The glove has been worse.
Sanchez was already a problem in Houston last season, when he struggled at the plate and looked completely lost in the field. He missed routine chances, turned fly balls into extra bases, and generally played with no baseball IQ on display.
Toronto hasn’t gotten anything different. Sanchez is at -8 Outs Above Average, which ranks as the second-worst mark in the majors.
For a player who has started only 71 games in the outfield, that’s a brutal number. He’s been a full-blown liability out there.
That’s part of why the Astros’ current outfield conversation makes this such an easy call. Houston already has a group of glove-first, light-bat outfielders, and the Daulton Varsho trade drew criticism because it brought in yet another glove-first type.
Sanchez isn’t even that. He’s a weak-glove, weak-bat outfielder.
There’s not much there to sell.
His recent defensive struggles have only sharpened the picture. Since August 19, he has played just four games in the outfield after losing one ball in the roof and another in the lights at Tropicana Field. That was enough for Toronto.
Sanchez also made it clear how he felt about his time in Houston, saying the Astros coaches were too focused on fixing his weaknesses instead of letting him use his natural swing. That didn’t stop him from hitting .199 in Houston last season in 146 AB, and his .611 OPS there left him in “Maldyville.” The natural swing approach hasn’t exactly saved him in Toronto either, since it ended with a DFA.
For Astros fans still wondering why the team traded for Joey Loperfido only to keep him buried in the minors, the frustration is understandable. He’s been productive at Sugar Land, and it feels like a wasted move.
But at least Loperfido can defend and run the bases. Sanchez does neither, and he costs a whole lot more.
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Yainer Diaz Is Giving Astros A Tougher Offseason Decision
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For Houston, that creates a problem beyond simple roster depth. Diaz is nearing free agency, and the club has to weigh how much faith to place in his long-term fit when the trend lines on both offense and defense are moving the wrong way, especially in areas like pitch framing and controlling the running game. It leaves the Astros with a catcher whose talent is still evident, but whose future in Houston is no longer an easy call. [Read more 🡒]