No Stro Show on opening day, Jays confirm
Pitcher won’t be on the hill when Toronto starts its season against the Yankees
DUNEDIN, Fla. — Marcus Stroman may still be a star of the Toronto Blue Jays’ starting rotation, but he won’t get the ball on opening day.
That bit of news delivered by manager John Gibbons on Monday morning apparently didn’t sit well with Stroman, who continues to progress in his recovery from shoulder inflammation.
“My best judgment is that it makes no sense at this time because we want him healthy the whole year,” Gibbons said. “He doesn’t like that — I get that — but I think it’s best for him and best for the team.”
Gibbons was almost an hour late for his daily media briefing following Stroman’s first session throwing from the mound this spring, and at some point breaking the news to the right-hander.
But Gibbons said it’s still possible Stroman will get a start in the fourgame opening series against the New York Yankees in Toronto.
“He could still pitch in that Yankee series,” Gibbons said. “We’re just trying to buy him enough time. The shoulder is really no big deal, but my experience in this game is that sometimes it’s better to be smart than stupid.”
At the Jays Fan Fest in Toronto in January, Stroman was adamant he should get the ball on opening day. Based on performance last year, Gibbons agrees. Stroman declined to comment on the decision on Monday.
“I can’t blame him,” Gibbons said. “He deserved it. He earned it. He was going to be the guy, but he’ll be fine.”
Next for Stroman is to continue to build strength for whenever that first start comes. Tentative plans are for him to pitch in a minor-league game Saturday and build from there.
Rotation prognostication
Who will Gibbons and pitching coach Pete Walker hand the ball to for the March 29 season opener?
The hunch is it will be either Marco Estrada, who got the assignment last year, or J.A. Happ, a 20-game winner in 2016. There’s also Aaron Sanchez.
“We’ll see. We could go with any of them,” Gibbons said.
The veterans make the most sense, however. Sanchez no doubt feels enough pressure to not have a setback with the blister issues that wrecked his 2017 season, and he’ll get a chance to face the Yankees on opening weekend.
“It’d be great,” said Happ, who has never had an opening-day start in his career. “I’d be honoured to take the ball, but we’ll see what they want to do. I haven’t been told anything either way officially.”
In his fourth outing of the spring on Monday, Happ was touched up by the Boston Red Sox, allowing seven hits and four runs in the Jays’ 6-4 loss at Dunedin Stadium. Happ gave up a pair of home runs, but the good thing was he went 4 2/3 innings and his pitch count reached 70 as he builds for opening weekend.
With a sharp wind blowing out, Happ wasn’t worried about the long balls, but acknowledged he could be sharper.
“I can get a little better with the overall quality of the strikes I’m throwing,” Happ said. “I think that’s what we all try to do as the spring goes on.”
Quick hits
Yes, it’s only spring training, but centre-fielder Kevin Pillar remains red-hot at the plate. Pillar was three for three against the Red Sox on Monday and is now batting .520 … Monday’s game wasn’t exactly a pitching gem as the two teams combined for 27 hits — 16 by the Sox, 11 for the Jays … The game did have one thing you don’t see every day: the Jays falling into a 6-4-2-6-3-8-7 double-play. Don’t ask … Sanchez will get the start Tuesday when the Jays travel to Orlando, Fla., to face the Atlanta Braves.