5:57pm: Garcia will join Sanchez on the DL, as Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com tweets that he’s dealing with shoulder tenderness. The Jays will recall reliever Tim Mayza from Triple-A Buffalo to take Garcia’s roster spot, though it’s not yet clear whom they’ll tab to fill out their rotation. Garcia, whom Toronto signed to a one-year, $10MM guarantee over the winter, has joined Stroman and Sanchez in disappointing this season. Long a solid back-end starter, Garcia has scuffled to a 6.16 ERA with 8.22 K/9, 4.55 BB/9 and an uncharacteristically low grounder rate (42 percent) through 61 1/3 innings.
5:13pm: The Blue Jays have reinstated right-hander Marcus Stroman from the disabled list and placed fellow righty Aaron Sanchez on the DL, retroactive to Friday, per a team announcement. Sanchez is dealing with a right index finger contusion.
Stroman went on the DL on May 11 with right shoulder fatigue, which continued a rough start to the season for the 27-year-old. After establishing himself as an effective workhorse over the previous two seasons, during which he eclipsed the 200-inning campaign each year, Stroman opened this season with a 7.71 ERA across 37 1/3 innings and seven starts before going on the DL. While Stroman had posted a career-best 7.71 K/9 in that span and continued his groundball-inducing ways (60.5 percent), he also logged personal-worst walk and home run figures (4.34 BB/9, 1.21 HRs per nine). Additionally, Stroman experienced a drop in velocity and was prone to hard contact, evidenced in part by his lofty .404 xwOBA against.
Stroman drew offseason trade interest and, with Toronto struggling, could have been a candidate to move prior to deadline had he performed well and stayed healthy over the first couple months of 2018. Instead, given Stroman’s early woes, he seems likely to at least finish the year with the Blue Jays – who can control him via arbitration through 2020. He’ll return to the hill Saturday against the Angels.
As is the case with Stroman, this hasn’t been an ideal year for Sanchez. The 25-year-old previously endured a subpar 2017, thanks in part to blister issues that limited him to 36 innings. He has far surpassed that total this season, having tossed 79 2/3 frames in 15 starts, though Sanchez has only managed a 4.52 ERA thus far. Sanchez has recorded normal strikeout and grounder rates (7.57 K/9, 50.2 GB rate), but he has surrendered a career-worst 5.08 walks per nine and dealt with a mild decline in velocity.
With the Jays temporarily trading Sanchez for Stroman, both Sam Gaviglio and Jaime Garcia will remain in a rotation that also includes potential trade pieces in impending free agents J.A. Happ and Marco Estrada.
I’d happily take Stroman in a trade right now, if I was in charge of a contending club. Odds are, he’s gonna get back to his usual level.
A few bad games to start 2018 don’t erase a four year history of excellence in the toughest division in baseball.
Ask Rickey Romero if it’s possible
Romero never had the stats to go with his good performances
Sam can be said if Brandon Morrow and Drew Hutchison…and Dustin McGowan for that matter.
That’s not really true, 2011 is the only year that his results (ERA) were clearly better than they should’ve been. In 2009 and 2010 his xFIP was actually lower than his ERA.
I have long thought Stroman belongs as a closer not a starter. His body is perhaps trying to tell him that too.
And Stroman’s character isn’t suited for starting pitching. He’ll go one or two games and look like Cy Young then he’ll have a blowup game or inning and look like Neil young out there. lol. That has been his pattern his entire career so far.
I hear his shoulder is at 85% of what it was. That means he is going to have to pitch better than he has in the past and not rely on his stuff so much. It also means he is going to have to get a handle on his emotions and keep the jitters and blowup innings at bay.
His has one of the best sinker/slider combinations in the game when it is working.
As I’ve said the Jays are going no where this year, so let’s hope the plan for Stroman is to slowly work himself right for next year. The Jays will field offers for him, but I hear he is likely not to
be traded unless the Jays are blown away with an offer. #Scoutseyes
Honestly, you might be on to something if Osuna becomes a problem off the field! The jays could swap roles and stroman could become a viable closer similar to Osuna!
Don’t know why the 5 downvotes. Seems like a legit possibility if he continues to be utter trash as a starter. Several starters from the Jays org have converted into relievers (Morrow, Cecil, etc.) Could work as a ground ball specialist 8th inning type of guy.
The problem with moving him is that it’s way to of a reactionary move. 8 starts shouldn’t be enough to have everybody writing him off. This is the same guy who finished 8th in Cy Young voting last year. Maybe down the road a shift to the bullpen is possible, but that’s only after a couple years of mediocre results. Not two months of pitching.
With Happ and Estrada leaving via free agency Stroman needs to keep starting. Garcia could be gone also. They are sitting with Stroman, Sanchez, Gaviglio and possibly Borucki for next year.
Stroman in 2016&2017 went over 200 innings without any health issues. He had a 3.09 ERA last season. There is no way they would move him out of the rotation at this point in his career.
He clearly was rushed back to starting after missing all of spring, and I do think he tried to push through the shoulder issues but the results speak for itself. He did admit in an interview that he probably should have not come back so soon and was wrong to think he could push through the lingering issues. That is why this time around they left him longer on the DL to ensure he would be healthy.
I actually have more concern for Sanchez. In 2016 he was really great but that is the only year in his career that he has ever pitched over 100 innings.
Overall its sad that both of them have never given that two punch, top of the rotation we have been waiting on for years.
As much as we would all want the “two punch” to be great, sadly it is not going to be.
As I said in Spring Training, the torque on Sanchez hand is so great from his delivery it rips his hand to schreds. It is what it is. He has to change his delivery and find other pitches that work. We will not likely ever see the Aaron Sanchez we saw that won the era title. Cecil won 15 games before he found his true role in MLB, as a setup guy.
As for Stroman, his shoulder is only at 85% of those past years. Moving forward we can look forward see what we saw from his first start back- a good but rough 6 innings, but it is #3 stuff. Strictly two turns of the batting order. Occasionally we will see a 3 turns of the battling order through Stroman but it will be rare. I still say let’s move him to a closer role now and see how he does. Moving Stroman to a closer role is not a reactionry move. I have been calling for this for 2 years because I beleive he can be elite elite as a closer, as good or better than Osuna.
No, Sanchez and Stroman won’t be the salvation of the Blue Jay rotation. The Mgmt team of the Jays is either going to have to draft, trade or sign a real #1 and #2 in the rotation pitchers. #Scoutseyes
I think your scout eyes are broken.
The facts don’t back up your bias on Stroman. On his career he has a marginal increase on the 3rd vs 2nd time through the order. Little higher average but lower obp the 3rd time. If you go back to 2017 he got a little better the 3rd time.
Also where in the world do you get this 85% shoulder health thing? I have seen no one report that he some how lost 15%, also how would you quantify a 15% loss in ones shoulder? All athletes have some degree of wear and tear but this is not a re-occurring issue for him.
The fact that Cecil won 15 games has nothing to do with Stroman, Cecil was not a good SP and he lucked his way into 15 wins with a near 5 ERA, much like the year Hutchison went 13-5 with a 5.57 ERA. Wins don’t measure success in direct correlation
As for Sanchez, I am pretty sure if he was in fact shredding his hands on his delivery the Jays and or team Boras would be all over making the necessary changes.
Sanchez has a few problems. First, outside of his great 2016 he has never been able to control his stuff. In the minors he had huge walk issues, when he arrived as a reliever he was able to harass it but outside of 2016 walks have been a big issue.
The second issue, he struggles with LHB and they have a career .343 obp vs him. The average is still only .240 as his stuff is good but teams stack lefties vs him.
Sanchez is very disappointing as his stuff is very hard to hit but when he cant throw strikes it allows people to just wait out a pitch.
The 85% thing probably comes from him completely misconstruing (no doubt purposefully) something Stroman said recently about preferring to pitch at 85% effort, which he feels he’s back to doing now. Earlier in the year when his shoulder wasn’t right, he said he was pitching at max effort to compensate, which was flattening out his pitches.
Wow, I rarely fend my words, but this time I will.
Intuitive scouting measures forward not backward so past stats are not an indicator of what a player is going to do in the future. I am calling the future.
Time will bare out what I am saying on both Snachez and Stroman, just like time has bared out what I have said in the past over and over and over again.
Team Boras and the Jays doctors don’t know how to fix his hand issues because it is torque causing it.
As for Stroman, I know someone in the Jays room and that shoulder is only 85% of what it was. He’ll have good outings in the future, mostly 2 turns of the battling order. Occiasionally he’ll get a 3 turn game. Unless he learns,his character issues and lack of height won’t ever let him be a true consistent 3 turns #1. I have been saying this all along. He’ll eventually settle in as a solid #3 or an elite closer. I won’t be explaining this further.
As for Cecil if you are going to spew stats to justify your opinion, at least get the correct ones. Cecil in 2010 was 15-7. 4.22 Era, 28 GS, 172 IP,, etc etc.
Ha… okay
Let me leave this quote from you for your reference….
“And Stroman’s character isn’t suited for starting pitching. He’ll go one or two games and look like Cy Young then he’ll have a blowup game or inning and look like Neil young out there. lol. That has been his pattern his entire career so far.”
Also Stroman responds to me on twitter sometimes does that make us friends? Maybe I should ask him about the shoulder.
I’m sure Stroman will say he is 100% just like Sanchez did in spring training. There is so much money on the line. These guys will often pitch through pain and weakness like they did in the old days.
I really do hope Stroman does well. Perhaps by the end of the season his shoulder will be back up to where it was. At the moment I don’t see[and hear] that.
To repeat, my call moving forward for Stroman is a solid #3 starter capable of a big game here and there or an elite closer..
Reading his twitter feed its clear he hasn’t learned much during his time on the DL. I hope he pitches well. He still can’t take criticism or conflict.
Jimmer I respectfully disagree about Stroman being a great closer. I do not believe he can do it long term. Perhaps a short stretch he can be very good. Reason is because he can’t take criticism or conflict. To be a great closer (and starter) you need both.
I wish him luck and hope he gets it together, quits social media and gets his head straight.
Trim, we definitely agree that Stroman needs a veteran mentor or coach to keep him grounded and be accountable too.
I’d love to see the Jays try him in Osuna’s role. Fat chance of that I know, considering their starting pitching has holes.
Both Happ and Estarda’s recent outings have been surprising great. I hope they trade them NOW, before age starts showing again.
I am like 99% certain you are messaging back and forth with yourself here.
I’m pretty sure trimreaper and jimmertree are the same person. #scoutseyes
Anything’s possible. I mean, Skip Bayless made Twitter accounts to compliment himself and forgot to switch accounts accordingly.
google.com/amp/s/ftw.usatoday.com/2016/12/twitter-…
Beautiful! Even the stealing my handle for the name. Such flattery. I love it!
Which ones the burner account?
I knew this would eventually happen. All because I don’t go after Jimmer like all of you do.
I’m 100% sure we are not the same person with the same account. Feel free to think so. While all this was going on I was cutting the grass, going for takeout, watching baseball highlights….ah whatever, you can believe Jimmer and my account are the same.
He drops #scoutseyes on you all, and you flip out. Funny thing is, deep down every single one of you believes you could be an MLB scout. Maybe you can, most likely you can’t. Jimmer is not the first guy to pat himself on the back on this website.
I had to give credit where credit is due. I can disagree with Jimmer and other people while many of you resort to angry comments and attack people online. That’s your problem. If you’d like to attack us online, have at it. I’m sure we are not your only problem.
Trim, you shouldn’t be cutting grass, you should be doing counselling for bloggers. Classic Psych stuff. “I’m not sure we are not your only problem”.
LOL. Laugh of the day, .100% for sure.
#not100%sure