Even if it's with good reason, a contender sending a Cy Young contender to the minors past the midway point of August seems a bit weird. That's why the Blue Jays optioning Aaron Sanchez to the minors (Class A-Advanced, actually) on Sunday will turn some heads.

The 24-year-old All-Star is 12-2 with a 2.99 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 132 strikeouts in 156 1/3 innings this season. Though not a front-runner, Sanchez would certainly get down ballot Cy Young consideration.

So with the Blue Jays in first place by a 1/2 game, why in the world is Sanchez going down?

Well, it's not that complicated. As we've noted before, the Blue Jays are looking to limit Sanchez's innings this season without ending up with a total "shutdown." He only worked 102 regular-season innings last year (majors and minors combined) and 133 1/3 in 2014 (again, majors and minors combined). He's going to crush those totals this year, so the Blue Jays are trying to protect his future.

Thus, Sanchez was already going to have his next start skipped. So for roughly 10 days, he was just going to be a player using up a roster spot while sitting on the bench. Instead, the Blue Jays option him to the minors and bring up a player that can be used. Once the 10-day minimum is used up, Sanchez is then recalled to the bigs and gets back into the rotation. It's a matter of logistics, not a true demotion.

Though I think much of the hand-wringing of the notorious "Strasburg Shutdown" is an overreaction to the point of almost being contrived, I've long lamented the Nationals' lack of flexibility in the situation. Skipping starts or going to a six-man rotation for stretches are things that can be done to stretch a young starter later in the season while still keeping his innings workload down. The Blue Jays appear to be doing as much with Sanchez.

Through that lens, the "demotion" of Sanchez to the minors is a good thing, not the opposite.