Nick Ashbourne

He had some of the best bat speed in all of baseball.

It slowed down a little bit with the Jays.

Even the sprint speed slowed down.

He just hasn't been quite as dynamic athletically.

The performance right now is there.

They need it.

For me, this is more hot streak than breakout.

But that is a distinction that's very difficult to make.

And in the weeks and months to come, maybe that will be an incorrect statement.

Maybe in a month from now, we're saying Sanchez has established himself in the middle of this batting order, and it really was him finding a different gear.

It's just, for me, that's still up in the air.

Where his role sits is an important part of this discussion, because it sounds like I'm a little bit down on centers.

But realistically, you think of him as a guy who hits maybe sixth against right-handed pitching only.

He has kind of a complementary role when everyone is healthy.

Barger...

chances are he's going to get a look at cleanup, Kirk perhaps in fifth, and then you have him hit sixth.

That's not gospel, but that's sort of what you're thinking of.

And you sit him against lefties because he's always really struggled left-handed pitching.

So now you're talking about a complementary bat.

And as a complementary bat, there are some skills there that are intriguing.