DUNEDIN, Fla. — The simple truth is it matters not who will be the Toronto Blue Jays‘ opening day starter, maybe less than it has in some time. Unless, that is, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. recovers quickly enough and learns how to pitch.
There was a reason Roy Halladay started seven openers consecutively. A reason for R.A. Dickey to make one of them (not sure about the second), ditto for Ricky Romero’s back-to-back gigs. Drew Hutchison? Marcus Stroman? Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ have been handed the ball for the last four openers as rewards for one thing or another or a sop to this or that, be it sentiment or matchup or scheduling in seasons that smelled like they would matter in the standings.
This one is different. Ryan Borucki is the most effective of last year’s holdovers but all it took was a couple of mediocre spring outings for Buffalo to be whispered. Now, it is Stroman and Aaron Sanchez with the pedigree for the honour – just as for the Blue Jays to do what the Tampa Bay Rays did in 2018 it will be one of those two pitchers who plays the role of Blake Snell.
Last year’s Rays are this year’s best-case scenario for the Jays – and last year’s Rays traded their opening day starter, Chris Archer, at the trade deadline and, yeah, I’ll just leave that thought right there …
Stroman and Sanchez have both had uneventful on-field springs in making their case, the latest evidence presented by four innings of one-hit pitching by Sanchez on Tuesday in a 2-1 loss to the Rays that ended a happy eight-game Grapefruit League winning streak.
Manager Charlie Montoyo said on Tuesday morning the team would name an opening day starter either after Sanchez’s start or Wednesday when Stroman takes the mound in Sarasota against the Baltimore Orioles. After watching Sanchez, Montoyo delayed the statement, which either means he knows it’s Sanchez and wants to tell Stroman in person, knows it’s Stroman and wants to wait to tell both of them in person … or that he is going to wait and see how Stroman pitches. Hey, if you want to pay more than lip service to the idea of competition for jobs – which this staff seems inclined to do – having a competition for opening day starter would be a way of reinforcing the notion. If you’re looking for a tip-off? Montoyo did say he wanted to see how Sanchez felt in the morning.
My goodness, though: Sanchez looked like the Sanchize – uh, knock on Hunter Wood.
“You can just tell he has a spring in his step,” said pitching coach Pete Walker. “He’s smiling, he’s feeling good. He’s not looking at his hand after every pitch. Looking at his side sessions, I had a feeling he was going in this direction. Watching him spin the breaking ball again, which I hadn’t really seen consistently in a couple of years … the change-up is there … and I’m starting to see more action on a fastball that’s being commanded well.
“We could not have asked for a better spring for him.”
There will be three voices in the room deciding who will get the ball to start the opener: general manager Ross Atkins, Montoyo and Walker. And Montoyo made clear Walker’s will carry the most weight, because he’s seen the leading candidates most often.
Montoyo was effusive in his praise of Sanchez, who pitched around a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. error in his final inning. Most importantly, he liked the pace Sanchez showed, because that’s a sign of somebody ‘feeling it.’
Sanchez, for his part, answered with: “don’t matter,” when asked about the significance of an opening day start.
“At the end of the day, you’re all going to make 32 starts,” said the big right-hander, who has had two frankly ridiculous and injury-plagued seasons. “I mean, it’s cool but I don’t have control about that, so I’m not sitting here worrying about it.”
[relatedlinks]
This season is the most important of Sanchez and Stroman’s careers. Both pitchers are two years away from free agency at a time when 27- and 28-year-old pitchers can’t expect to cash in on a big free-agent deal in their mid-30s anymore. Odds are at this point each of them will have one really big payday.
The guess here is when the decision is made, only one of them will make a fuss about it one way or another.
Earlier Tuesday, Blue Jays president and chief executive officer Mark Shapiro held a media availability and among the subjects he was asked about was Stroman’s Twitter habits, in particular the way he seems fond of tweaking sensibilities by ‘liking’ tweets that relate to anything done by the previous regime. Having a ticket to the Stro-Show has, of course, meant having to put up with online images of his house, cars, sneakers, puppy and various ‘thoughts of the day,’ in addition to commentary on baseball matters such as the status of unsigned free agents. Stroman wears his feelings on his sleeves and, given his tattoos, on his skin, too. He literally bleeds for what he believes in.
The Blue Jays have taken a kind of benign approach, at least publicly, to Stroman being Stroman – as if the organization’s philosophy is: ‘Please, baseball gods, just give us three good months and we’ll never ask for another thing more.’ Truth is, there are things Stroman has done this spring that are hardly disruptive but rather indicative of a guy growing into his late 20s as a ballplayer. I mean, pushing publicly for a contract extension or calling out owners for not signing players is all fair game. Some of us might even say ‘good on ya.’ There: I just did.
I wrote earlier this spring that Stroman has likely begun the process of coming to grips with his mortality as a player. The same might also be said for Sanchez, who is represented by Scott Boras and who – whether this is a coincidence or not – has seemed at times to be less than sold on some of the stuff the Shapiro/Atkins regime has brought in. Eyebrows were raised earlier this spring when Sanchez had his own analytical cameras and equipment alongside the Blue Jays’ own new-fangled gizmos. Some wondered what he’d make of this new manager and staff, which is understandable given the journey travelled. So read nothing into the identity of the 2019 Blue Jays’ opening day starter. Or read everything into it. That’s kind of where we are right now, you know?