CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Toronto Blue Jays have reason to expect efficient innings from Mark Buehrle, but getting them from so many others Saturday was a welcome development for a pitching staff in search of answers.
That Buehrle had a scoreless outing shouldn’t be surprising considering the veteran’s track record and the relatively light-hitting lineup the Philadelphia Phillies fielded in a 4-2 Blue Jays win. After 14 consecutive seasons with 200-plus innings, Buehrle has his spring routines down.
“Couldn’t have drawn it up any better,” Buehrle said. “I hit my spots where I wanted to and pretty much threw everything out there, so if you told me I was going to do this every time out there I’d take it.”
The left-hander took a ball off of his foot in the first inning, but escaped the inning on a double play and said after the outing that he felt fine. His successor, Marco Estrada, pitched just as effectively, and nearly as quickly, retiring all six of the Phillies he faced. The right-hander’s being considered for Toronto’s final rotation spot with Daniel Norris and Aaron Sanchez, and it’s a competition he hopes to win.
“I think everybody would want to start. I for sure want to start,” Estrada said. “It’s what I’ve done my entire life, and even though I’ve had a lot of time in the ‘pen as a big leaguer, I’ve always wanted to be a starter.”
Estrada mixed in two curves Saturday while relying heavily on his change-up, a pitch the Blue Jays like a whole lot. The right-hander hasn’t thrown his cutter in games much since 2011, but he’s working on it to broaden his arsenal in case he needs it as a starter. But while he spent the off-season preparing for a rotation job, he’s ready for the possibility that Norris or Sanchez will win the job outright and relegate him to the bullpen.
“If I have to start, awesome. I’m prepared for it,” he said. “If I don’t it’s an easier transition to go to the bullpen.”
Regardless of where Estrada ends up, the Blue Jays have major questions in their bullpen, especially now that Brett Cecil is temporarily sidelined.
But scoreless innings from the likes of Miguel Castro, Wilton Lopez and Steve Delabar were steps in the right direction for Toronto. Castro was particularly impressive, hitting 97 m.p.h. while retiring all three of the batters he faced, including MLB veterans Carlos Ruiz and Domonic Brown. Manager John Gibbons likes Castro’s easy velocity and he wasn’t the only one. Catcher Russell Martin told Gibbons that Castro’s stuff stood out to him.
“[Martin] made some comments and said it was pretty impressive,” Gibbons said. “Who knows. He’s a young kid. I mean he’s green in professional baseball, but he could come quick.”
The 20-year-old Castro entered camp as a longshot to make the club given that he has yet to pitch in the upper minors. But his lanky frame and big velocity are hard to miss. By retiring big league hitters, he earned more looks from the Blue Jays decision makers who have already been impressed by his fastball-change-up combination. Even if he doesn’t break camp with the team, he’s a candidate to make an impact in Toronto at some point in 2015.
Meanwhile, former Phillies prospect Kyle Drabek struggled with location at times during his scoreless inning against the club that drafted him. The Blue Jays would have to expose the right-hander to waivers if they don’t place him on their opening day roster, but he’ll have to show better command to earn a spot in Toronto’s bullpen.
More concerning for the Blue Jays is Cecil’s shoulder inflammation. While they’re hopeful he’ll be able to return within a week or so, any soreness is worth monitoring closely considering Cecil’s pencilled in for high-leverage innings in a Toronto bullpen that lacks certainty beyond Cecil, Aaron Loup and Todd Redmond.
Still, the Blue Jays came a little closer to finding solutions Saturday thanks to some effective pitching behind Buehrle.
