National Post (National Edition)
Jays still think they have real shot at playoffs
Right-handed pitcher Marco Estrada is a pretty laid-back guy. Even when times were tough for him last year with the Toronto Blue Jays, Estrada never seemed to get overly agitated, though he did appear beaten down after some of his rougher starts.
The Sylmar, Calif., native chatted amiably for a while on the weekend, but the smile on his face disappeared when asked if the scuffling Jays were reaching the stage where some of the guys were getting complacent, or worse, not giving 100 per cent anymore.
“I couldn’t imagine somebody being complacent with losing,” Estrada said. “If you are, then I don’t want you on my team.”
Estrada was almost offended by the question. But the fact is, fans are getting restless as a post-season berth seems to be evaporating with every defeat, even though it is still May.
With Sunday’s ugly 9-2 loss to the Oakland A’s, the Jays have now dropped seven of their last eight and are three games under .500 for the first time this season.
Toronto committed four errors on Sunday and the mood inside the Rogers Centre was gloomy, prompting hysterical social media calls for minor league hotshot Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to be brought up, though how dumb would it be to call up a 19-year-old kid to a major league team that’s currently in the doldrums?
There’s also the predictable din that manager John Gibbons be fired, as if the rotation collapse and injury woes are his fault.
For Estrada, it’s all a little too much.
“We’re all here to win,” said Estrada, who is starting to turn his season around. The veteran finesse pitcher threw to a 6.75 ERA in April but in May is 4.18.
“There’s one goal in everybody’s mind, and it should be in everybody’s mind, and that’s to win the World Series.”
World Series? Is he kidding?
“You take it step by step,” he said. “The first one’s just to get to the playoffs and then you start focusing on the next goal. But for now, we’re trying to make the playoffs. We have the team to do it, we’ve been bit by the frickin’ injury bug again and we’re missing some key guys right now and it sucks. But what we have here now is definitely enough to win a lot of ball games. We just have to put it together. But it will come.”
Sounds like a sales job, but Estrada insisted nobody in the clubhouse has given up.
“Honestly I didn’t even know our record,” said first baseman Justin Smoak. “Our job is to show up every day and play and try to win every game. What are we, a month and a half in now? And starting to think about a .500 record? No. I think we’ve got a good team. I think everybody thinks we’ve got a good team. It’s just one of those periods of time when we just haven’t put it all together at the same time. We just need to get back on one of those rolls again.”
What the Jays need more than anything is their rotation to step up. The starters have been probably the biggest disappointment, even if two of the regulars are injured — Marcus Stroman and Jaime Garcia.
Estrada sees signs that the rotation is coming on — pointing to the fine start by spot starter Sam Gaviglio on Saturday. Joe Biagini was decent in the loss on Sunday.
“That was nice to see,” Estrada said. “And I’m feeling much better about what I’m doing. Physically, I’m feeling better. I’m starting to make better pitches. Some got away from me the other day towards the end, but overall it was a good outing.”
Estrada went seven solid innings in a 3-1 loss to Oakland on Friday.
“(J.A.) Happ, obviously, he’s been pretty consistent. And then (Aaron) Sanchez, we all know what he can do. So we’re all starting to turn it around,” Estrada said. “And we’re going to need to. If we want to win, it all starts with pitching. It’s going to start with us five guys going out there and trying to put (up) quality outings. I know we can do it because we’ve done it before. We’ve just got to stay on track.”