Blue Jays have power to spare
Bautista smashes a grand slam, Donaldson, Encarnacion also homer
If the stars align, the Blue Jays may welcome back a familiar figure to bolster their bullpen for the final weeks of the season.
Before Wednesday night’s 9-7 win over the Minnesota Twins, manager John Gibbons volunteered the surprising news that Marcus Stroman, last season’s rookie sensation and current Duke University student, is scheduled to start throwing off a mound next Wednesday.
If all goes well, Stroman could begin a minor-league rehab assignment on Aug. 21, general manager Alex Anthopoulos said.
Assuming no setbacks, Stroman could pitch four or five relief stints and join the Jays’ bullpen early in September.
Meanwhile, the current bullpen staff was a key contributor to Wednesday’s win, even though the Jays scored all of their runs on three prodigious homers — a grand slam by Jose Bautista, a three-run shot by Edwin Encarnacion and a tworun blast by Josh Donaldson, who homered in his third straight game.
The Jays led 9-3 after four innings, but the beleaguered Drew Hutchison gave up four runs — all unearned, owing to Donaldson’s error — in the fifth. Liam Hendriks, Brett Cecil, Mark Lowe and LaTroy Hawkins blanked the Twins the rest of the way.
Donaldson’s miscue notwithstanding, the Twins hit Hutchison hard that inning. He also gave up three runs in the first on three hits and a walk, but wound up posting his 10th win, to go with only two losses — and a 5.42 ERA.
A crowd of 27,725 watched Toronto’s fourth straight win and seventh in the past eight games.
Stroman underwent what the club called season-ending surgery in March after he tore the ACL in his left knee during a fielding drill in spring training. But from the beginning, the spirited right-hander with the big smile set his sights on a September return.
He has followed a gruelling rehab regimen under the supervision of Duke’s medical and conditioning staff after returning to school to finish his degree. He has also been playing catch and long-toss on flat ground for several weeks.
“We don’t sit here and look at it like, ‘OK, he’s going to come to the rescue, save the day,’” Gibbons said. “It’s his goal. We’re on board if he can pull it off. But we’re not going to do anything stupid either.”
Stroman was expected to be the Jays’ No. 1 starter, or something close to it, after going 10-6 with a 3.29 ERA in 20 starts last year.
Gibbons emphasized that if he pitches at all this year, it would be in relief, and that the club would take no chances with his health.