Blue Jays to keep Sanchez in 6-man rotation

HOUSTON — Forget everything you’ve heard about Aaron Sanchez. The American League ERA leader is staying in the Blue Jays’ starting rotation after all.

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins made the announcement during a scrum with reporters on Thursday afternoon. Earlier this week, Atkins said Sanchez would transition to the bullpen, but the organization has since experienced a change of heart.

Toronto will instead stick with a six-man rotation following Monday’s acquisition of Pirates left-hander Francisco Liriano. Sanchez’s workload will continue to be monitored and the club will look for signs of fatigue, but the plan for now is to keep him in the rotation. So what changed in the last 48 hours?

“The biggest thing is input from different people after something was more concrete, or closer to it, and the fact that Francisco Liriano was so open to everything,” Atkins said. “Then the more we thought about the potential of a six- man rotation not just benefiting Aaron but benefiting the others in the rotation at this point in the season.”

Atkins said all of Toronto’s starting pitchers signed off on the move and Liriano expressed a willingness to pitch out of the bullpen if that’s the direction the Blue Jays wanted to take. The plan could change, but for now the club will go with a short bench and instead use an extra starter.

The move comes after several days of mixed signals from …

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