Stroman told he will not be opening day starter
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 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 after breaking the news to the mercurial right-hander.
But Gibbons said it’s still possible Stroman will get a start in the four-game opening series against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre.
“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.”
In January, Stroman was adamant he should get the ball on opening day. Based on performance last year, Gibbons agrees. Stroman declined to comment Monday on the decision.
“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 up 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.
OPEN IT UP
Who will Gibbons and pitching coach Pete Walker hand the ball to for the March 29 opener against the Yankees?
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 always Aaron Sanchez, but you don’t want to be anywhere near the Jays’ clubhouse when Stroman finds that out. “We’ll see, we could go with any of them,” Gibbons said.
The veterans make the most sense, especially with Sanchez feeling enough pressure not to have a setback with the blister issues that wrecked his 2017 season. “It’d be great,” said Happ, who has never started opening day. “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, Happ was touched up by the Red Sox Monday, 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 42/3 innings and his pitch count reached 70 as he builds for opening weekend.