Injured: Jays starter Estrada expected to open on the DL, but return after the season’s first week
DUNEDIN, FLA.— Starting pitcher Marco Estrada will “probably” start the season on the disabled list, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Tuesday morning.
If that is the case, the team will open the season with four starting pitchers and carry an extra reliever. An off-day in the first week allows the Jays to use just four starters the first time through the rotation.
Estrada, who returned to the Jays this season on a two-year deal, missed the first month of spring training with back tightness after injuring himself attempting a martial arts move in the off-season. He is healthy now, but given his late start he needs another week to build up his arm strength.
The decision means that in addition to starting Sunday’s season opener in St. Petersburg against the Tampa Bay Rays, Marcus Stroman will also start the home opener in Toronto the following Friday against the Boston Red Sox.
Estrada, meanwhile, will make his debut Sunday, April 10, against the Red Sox, Gibbons said.
The Jays also continued to whittle down their roster in advance of Sunday’s opener, announcing that 2013 all-star reliever Steve Delabar and veteran lefty Randy Choate had been released.
Delabar, who was acquired by the Jays from the Seattle Mariners via trade in 2012, could be claimed on waivers. But he was offered his unconditional release by the organization in case he clears.
The 32-year-old right-hander, who has struggled the last two seasons after 2013’s breakout, was more accepting of the team’s decision this year than he was a year ago when he was surprised not to make the team out of spring training. “Mentally I’m in a different place,” he said. “This year I knew it was a possibility this would happen.”
Delabar, who suffered what was believed to be a career-ending elbow injury in 2009 and was working as a substitute teacher when he revived his pitching career five years ago, said he is confident he will catch on with another team. “I don’t plan to stop playing any time soon.”
The Jays would like Choate, a 40year-old lefty specialist in camp on a minor-league deal, to report to Triple-A Buffalo, but he may opt out of his deal to look for a major-league job elsewhere. “That’s his choice,” Gibbons said.
There are four pitchers left in camp fighting for three bullpen jobs: Rule 5 pick Joe Biagini, right-handers Arnold Leon and Ryan Tepera and switchpitcher Pat Venditte. The other competition is between Junior Lake, Ezequiel Carrera and Darrell Ceciliani for the fourth outfielder’s job.
Gibbons said he would announce the final roster cuts on Wednesday morning, before the Jays’ final Grapefruit League game in Fort Myers against the Red Sox.