Estrada back to feeling healthier
• Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada has arrived at spring training in great health and brimming with excitement and interesting stories.
Including one about how a leg injury he suffering in 2012 resulted in his becoming one of the best finesse pitchers in Major League baseball.
And it all happened because of a hit. Not a hit he gave up. His hit.
Estrada, 33, was pitching for the National League Milwaukee Brewers in 2012. During a game he smacked a line drive down the third- base line.
“I thought the guy was going to catch it, but it went right over him,” Estrada explained inside the Jays’ spring training clubhouse at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. “And I stopped but saw that he missed it and I pushed off and tried turning it up. The next thing I know I hear a pop.”
Estrada suffered a torn muscle in his right quad. In fact, there is an actual indentation in his leg where the torn muscle shifted. Because of that, Estrada said he lost velocity on his pitches, so he had to adjust the way he approached his craft.
“When you’re missing a piece of that muscle, obviously something’s going to drop and unfortunately it’s been my (velocity),” said the 2016 American League allstar. “But it’s taught me how to pitch. (And I understand) that I don’t have to rely on that 95 miles an hour ( fastball).
“It makes this game fun,” added Estrada, who went 9- 9 with a 3.48 ERA last season. “Just trying to locate. And you don’t have to overthrow anything because there’s nothing left, at least for me. What am I doing to do? Hit 90 miles an hour?”
Estrada said changing speeds and hitting his location as a means of success really hit home last year in a game on July 2 at the Rogers Centre against the Cleveland Indians, a 9- 6 Toronto victory.
“I think I was throwing 82 miles an hour ( on my fastball) because I couldn’t really reach out and finish a pitch,” said Estrada, who dealt with back pain most of last season. “I did OK that game against a tough team ( and) that’s when I kind of told myself, ‘If you’re healthy and you’re throwing 82, 83, you can probably still do it. It’s all about location and deception of the pitch, that differential between the fastball and change up. That’s what I’m more worried about. If I see my change- up close to my fastball, then I’m trouble. I mean, I don’t want my velocity to drop. I throw slow enough as it is, right? It is nice to get out to the high 80s or whatever. But if it drops — and I know it comes with age — then I think I’m prepared for it.”
Estrada s ai d pl ayi ng along side Mark Buehrle in 2015 was also a big contributor to his success as a pitcher who doesn’t overwhelm batters with his heat. Estrada said he talked pitching with Buehrle almost every day.
“He’s t hat guy t hrowing 83, 84 ... and you see how quick his outs are and how well he locates,” said Estrada. “That makes you realize it’s not always about speed. You locate a pitch and you can be really successful in this game. I still need that speed differential. Even then, if you can locate 9 out of 10, you’re still going to be successful.”
Estrada said he did much more core work this offseason. Last year he opened the regular season on the DL with a back injury. This year he feels healthier than he has in a long while.
“I don’t know if I’ ll ever be at 100 per cent. Back issues, I don’t know if they tend to go away ever,” he said. “But it’s got to a point where I’m not in pain. That to me is 100 per cent. There’s nights I toss and turn, and because of the twisting and stuff, I’ ll feel a little ache. But it’s not pain. Last year it was pain.”
The starting rotation was one question mark heading into the 2016 season. This year, the Jays’ starting five is one of the best in the league. Estrada says the beauty of Toronto’s rotation — himself, J.A. Happ, Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and Francisco Liriano — is that no one has to be the ace.
“I don’t think we have to rely on one guy,” he said. “Usually every team has that one guy ... ‘ This guy has to be good.’ We all want to be good and we all kind of do have to be good, but it’s not all the pressure on one person. It makes things a little easier. The whole ace term ... whatever. We’ve got five guys that can compete that are really good.”