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. Dalton Risner Broncos Jersey . -- The Sacramento Kings and guard Jimmer Fredette have completed a buyout of his contract, clearing the way for the former BYU sensation to become a free agent. Karl Mecklenburg Broncos Jersey .Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have been neck and neck all season, with 17 points separating the rivals and double points on offer for the race.Tensions between them have spilled over during the campaign and the pairs fragile relationship was evident during Thursdays pre-race news conference, when Rosberg goaded Hamilton by advising him to race cleanly. http://www.thebroncosstoreonline.com/You...roncos-jerseys/. -- Officials have approved a deal to build a new $672 million stadium for the Atlanta Braves away from the downtown Atlanta area that has traditionally been its home. Noah Fant Womens Jersey . Al Harrington, another former Knicks forward, scored 22 of his 24 points after halftime for the Nuggets, allowing them to withstand Anthonys attempt to rally the Knicks after his poor shooting had them behind until the final minutes of regulation. Anthony finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, missing 20 of 30 shots in the Knicks sixth straight loss. DeMarcus Ware Jersey . For Bergevin, the best pick is the 30th — which traditionally goes to the Stanley Cup winner. "Thats our goal.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Mr. Fraser, In the PIT/NYR Round 2 series, there have been two separate occasions where Marc Staal has taken blatant shots to the head of Pittsburghs Sidney Crosby. In Game 3, Staal hit Crosby with a viscous crosscheck to the back of the head. I was shocked that a penalty wasnt even called on the ice! The league then came out the following day and said that no punishment would be handed down for the hit. The following night, in Game 4, Staal again went after Crosbys head. This time it was a blatant elbow. Again, it was from behind, to the back of the head, nearly knocking the helmet off Crosbys head. Again, there was no call on the ice, and no action taken by the league. Can you explain to me how the league and officials, in this era of "no tolerance" for hits to the head, can allow this kind of thing to go on? How can there be no call on the ice? Obviously, since there was no action for the league, or penalty called, in Game 3, Staal figured he was cleared to do it again in Game 4. I mean, if the NHL doesnt care about the well-being of its marquee players, why should Staal? Thanks for listening. Any light you can shed on this subject would be great! John Waclo John: The cross-check that Marc Staal delivered on Sidney Crosby was well beyond just a minor infraction (Video link) and worthy of at least a five-minute major and game misconduct. This aggressive cross-check delivered to the head area could not be considered an effort by a defensive player to contain, engage in a battle in battle or to clear an opponent from the front of the net. The blow did not start at the name plate on the back of the jersey and thhen rode up to the neck and back of the helmet.dddddddddddd This forceful, full-arm extension cross-check went directly to the back of the neck/head of Crosby and should be considered an attempt to injure and worthy of a match penalty under rule 59.4. For the sake of argument lets reverse the body position of Crosby where he and Staal are face-to-face. If that same force is delivered to the neck and chin of Sid he will most likely be spitting blood, chicklets and perhaps even incur another broken jaw. I would sincerely hope that a match penalty would be assessed in that case and a player would be suspended for cross-checking an opponent in the face! I see a deliberate and forceful cross-check to the back of a players neck and head to be similarly dangerous regardless of the fact it was delivered on a player with a well-documented history of concussions. If you want to see an "old school" hit take a look at the major and game misconduct I assessed to Darian Hatcher in a game in Dallas just prior to the playoffs, when he delivered an elbow to the face of Jeremy Roenick. Roenicks jaw was dislocated, broken in three places and he had eight teeth cracked or broken. Roenick approached me on the ice spitting blood and teeth with his jaw wagging in the breeze as he attempted to say, "He broke my f----n jaw!" Hatcher was suspended for seven games (including the Stars first five playoff games) by Colin Campbell for the illegal hit. See it here. John, you ask how these types of plays can be missed. The answer is there are too many "puck watchers" wearing stripes in these playoffs. Player safety is placed in jeopardy when these aggressive fouls are allowed to go un-penalized. This isnt "old school" officiating; just a lack of awareness. ' ' '