Stroman revved up for opening day
GAME 1 ASSIGNMENT: Blue Jays ace buoyed by friend Sanchez’s chances of moving into starting rotation
DUNEDIN, Fla. —As Aaron Sanchez made his way through the Blue Jays clubhouse Wednesday afternoon, his teammate and fellow pitcher Marcus Stroman gave him a big hug and screamed: “That’s how you pitch, dawg!”
Stroman was in high spirits because it had been confirmed he would be pitching opening day April 3 in Tampa, and probably in the Jays home opener April 8 against the Red Sox.
“That would be sick,” Stroman said of pitching both openers. “Obviously, I’m focused on the opener and beating the Rays, but if I go open the home opener, too, that would be awesome and I would definitely accept that and run with that.”
What Stroman really wanted to talk about was the latest pitching performance by his friend and Toronto housemate Sanchez, who is vying for the fifth starter’s gig. Sanchez had another tremendous outing, throwing 61/3 innings, giving up four hits, no runs and no walks and striking out four New York Mets at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium in a 3-1 win.
“I don’t know how you could be any better, really,” said Toronto manager John Gibbons, who was particularly impressed with Sanchez’s secondary stuff, which has come around since the start of spring training.
“It really has,” Gibbons said. “His first outing of the spring, it was missing, he was bouncing a lot, and he found that groove and it’s been pretty consistent for him. That’s really what we were looking for out of him, if he can gain control of those things.”
The fight for the fifth starter’s gig has been a battle, with all four contenders — Sanchez, Gavin Floyd, Drew Hutchison and Jesse Chavez — pitching well. But as the regular season gets closer, Sanchez and Floyd seem to be taking the upper hand, with 23-yearold Sanchez the leading contender.
Sanchez is concentrating on each outing and was very satisfied with his performance against the Mets.
“I’ll take a few things from today,” he said. “I liked the second inning, triple (by Marc Krauss), no runs scored, that’s huge for me. I was pleased with all my pitches, there were a couple of times I yanked them. I felt like I got great work in there today.”
Sanchez had his fastball buzzing around 95 m.p.h. and his curve ball at 79 m.p.h.
But the Jays are expecting big things from Stroman, hoping he establishes himself as a bona fide ace. Last year, the Medford, N.Y., native needed surgery for an anterior cruciate ligament tear in his left knee. It was initially thought he’d be lost for the season, but he was activated Sept. 11 and finished the season with a 4-0 record, a 1.67 ERA, with 18 strikeouts in 27 IP. Basically, with the loss of David Price, the Jays need Stroman to step into the ace role.
“He’s got to fill that,” Gibbons said. “They became pretty close last year. David was really good to him. Dave was our ace while he was here last year and now Stro’s got to do that, but I think he can.
“You’re not going to replace Price, that’s pretty obvious. But we hope (he can be that guy). I don’t want to put that pressure on him, because that’s probably unfair.”
Stroman said Price sent a text of congratulations after hearing about the home opening assignment. He became close to veteran starters Price and Mark Buehrle last season and remains close with both.
“I’ll definitely talk to Papa Buehrle at some point. I stay close with everyone that’s close to me.”