DENVER -- As he stood outside the visitors’ clubhouse at Coors Field following Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Rockies to wrap up a winless six-game road trip, Aaron Sanchez answered questions he’s heard time and time again over the last two years. “You guys have seen me when I’m healthy,

DENVER -- As he stood outside the visitors’ clubhouse at Coors Field following Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Rockies to wrap up a winless six-game road trip, Aaron Sanchez answered questions he’s heard time and time again over the last two years.

“You guys have seen me when I’m healthy, and you’ve seen me when I’m not," he said. "When I am, it’s a big difference from when I’m not.”

Sanchez has worked tirelessly to condition his body and mechanics to be a pitcher who finished seventh in American League Cy Young Award voting with a league-leading 3.00 ERA in 2016. With all of that effort and time over the years to hone every muscle to attain the memory needed to pitch effectively in the Major Leagues, it’s all come down to his right middle finger.

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Following his breakout ‘16 campaign, Sanchez dealt with problem after problem with that digit, including blisters and nail avulsions, something he’s described as feeling like someone is ripping the finger nail right out of the skin. He was limited to eight starts in ‘17 and 20 in ‘18, with a 4.72 ERA over that span.

Prior to starting Sunday’s series finale in Colorado, Sanchez had to leave two of his last three starts early due to finger issues. So when he went six innings without incident at Coors Field, it was an encouraging sign for the 26-year-old and his club.

“Just going out there and pitching at all is encouraging, really,” Sanchez said. “I haven’t been on the mound for two years, it felt like.”

Though he gave up four runs on seven hits while walking three and striking out two, Sanchez was able to throw all of his pitches. Of his 85 pitches on the afternoon, he threw 30 two-seam fastballs, 16 four-seamers, 16 changeups and 23 curveballs. His fastball velocity maxed out at 96.2 mph.

“It sounds so minute, but it’s so impacting,” Sanchez said. “For pitching, that’s feel, the fingers are the last thing connected to the ball. For me to go out there and throw 85 pitches, that’s a good sign. Hopefully I can continue that trend and put this whole thing behind me.”

Sanchez has been here before, having pitched deep into a game without finger problems cropping up. But they were only lying dormant, eventually returning to plague Sanchez as he tried to build some consistency on the mound.

It can’t be easy to avoid thinking about whether the next pitch at any given moment could be the last of his start. Or his season.

“When it’s my day to pitch, you’ve gotta go out there and compete,” Sanchez said. “You’re facing the best hitters in the world. If I’m thinking about something else other than trying to execute a pitch, I’ll get embarrassed out there.

“And there’s nights that I have after being worried about that. I’ve learned a lot through this process, especially that aspect of how I can’t be out there worried about things I can’t control.”

For now, all is well with Sanchez, and by extension, that is at least temporarily a relief for the Blue Jays. Toronto’s starting rotation depth is paper thin with injuries to Matt Shoemaker (out for the season with a torn ACL) and Clay Buchholz (strained upper back), as well as a very difficult start for recently-acquired veteran Edwin Jackson, including a rocky outing at Coors Field on Friday in which he surrendered 10 runs in 2 1/3 innings.

It’s a precarious situation, going from start to start. But there’s no place for letting the, “What if?” creep into his head. After all, that doesn’t help him get back out on the mound.

“This can’t be something that I have to deal with forever,” he said. “I don’t wish this upon anybody. … If I want to make a start I’ve gotta figure it out.

“I’ll go out there until my hand falls off. That’s how much I want to compete.”