Matt Shoemaker only made five starts for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2019 before a torn ACL ended his season, but the city and team made a strong impression.
Shoemaker and the Blue Jays avoided arbitration this winter, agreeing to terms on a one-year, $4.2-million deal for the 2020 season. If the 33-year-old has it his way, he’ll be sticking around longer than that.
“Personally, I love it here,” Shoemaker said during an appearance on Sportsnet 590’s Writers Bloc Friday. “I’ve told them that, I’ve told the guys that, I’ve told my teammates that. It’s a great city, great baseball city, great baseball organization, I love the teammates in this clubhouse. I see where this team is going and it’s very exciting. We all believe we’re going to go out and do some great things.
“On our end there’s definitely interest to be here long-term.”
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The right-hander is excited about Toronto’s potential in 2020 and down the road, pointing to the clubhouse dynamic as a major factor.
“The veteran leadership, the young talent and leadership. Some of these young guys, you can tell they’re leaders, which is awesome, it helps the clubhouse and helps us win on the field,” Shoemaker said. “Like I said, the leadership qualities and the talent in every single guy, it’s incredible to see.
“Knowing what we can go out there and do as a team and as individuals if we take care of our job. We’re going to go out there, be prepared, perform well and as a team perform well and have a lot of fun doing it. We all see the talent we have here and the quality of people we have here, and when you have quality people it helps teams win.”
In his five starts last season, Shoemaker pitched to a minuscule 1.57 ERA and appeared on track for a bounce-back campaign in a career derailed by injuries. Instead, he was forced to throw in the towel after just 28.2 innings. Now he’ll be targeting 2020 for his rebound, whenever the league decides to resume play.
Shoemaker goes on to discuss the team’s diverse clubhouse, working with young catchers, dealing with mound visit restrictions and much more. Listen to the full segment in the audio player below.
