Aaron Sanchez Shares the Before and After of His Injured Finger

Have you ever wanted to see what Aaron Sanchez‘ finger looks like before and after the blister issues that derailed his entire 2017 season? Yes, I realize Monday morning shortly after your breakfast has just settled isn’t an ideal time to bring this up.

No, I’m not sure why I chose to share this, either.

It’s one of those seemingly innocent injuries, but outsiders often dismiss blisters. For someone like Sanchez whose livelihood depends on the very top of those fingers and nails, a blister can be just as catastrophic as an elbow injury.

When the decision was made to remove part of Sanchez’ fingernail to alleviate the issue, it only made things worse. He ultimately suffered a strained ligament in his middle finger, at which point the Blue Jays shut him down for the season.

Sanchez spoke about his rehab process to Harold Reynolds during MLB Network’s visit to Dunedin Stadium for their 30 Clubs in 30 Days feature.

Here’s a look below at the before and after of Sanchez fingernail removal. On the left side, the blister in its infancy on the middle finger of his pitching hand. On the right side, what his nail looked like after close to half of it was surgically removed.

It’s not quite “Trevor Bauer drone” level of gruesomeness, but below is a pretty detailed and gives a glimpse into what Sanchez was dealing with last year.
 

Sanchez’ Finger – Before and After

Yes, it’s gross and weird, but now it sort of makes sense why removing part of the fingernail entirely didn’t solve the issue. If anything, that method made things worse for Sanchez.

After giving his finger ample time to heal and the nail to regrow this offseason, this is what his Sanchez’ finger looks like now:

Looks good, right? The fingernail has completely grown back and he hasn’t expressed any lingering issues with the sprained tendon on the middle finger of his pitching hand.

After he was shut down in September, Sanchez says he was completely shut down, as in “avoid using your finger at all costs”. Doctors told him “don’t use your finger for anything other than pulling your pants up and down”, which is weirdly specific, but he stuck to their orders.

Now he’s back and sounds just like the Sanchez of 2016 who won an American League ERA title.

Hat tip to MLB Network for the video