TORONTO – Exactly when Marco Estrada starts next for the Toronto Blue Jays is uncertain because of a mild left glute strain, but the right-hander could still potentially make up to three showcase starts ahead of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
Between a pair of off-days in their upcoming schedule and the looming all-star break, the Blue Jays won’t need a fifth starter until July 14 at Boston. Manager John Gibbons said the hope was Estrada will be able to make that start.
Even if he doesn’t, the Blue Jays could insert him into any slot in the rotation post-all-star break and get two starts from him before the deadline, giving contending clubs a chance to get some last-minute looks at him.
Everything hinges on how quickly the 34-year-old – an interesting trade chip with strong playoff pedigree who could be a secondary option for teams that miss out elsewhere – recovers from an injury that began setting in after a seven-inning gem June 22 at Anaheim.
“We haven’t figured out what we’re going to do yet,” Gibbons said Wednesday of upcoming plans for the rotation. As for putting Estrada on the disabled list, “possibly that could happen, too,” he said.
The glute strain was discovered during an MRI late Tuesday night after he left an 8-6 win over the New York Mets having thrown only 12 pitches. The issue was initially described as hip soreness but further tests pinpointed the issue, although the exact cause left Estrada scratching his head.
“I didn’t really feel it that much until the next day” after the start in Anaheim, Estrada said. “The next three days it was hard for me just to walk.”
Still, he managed to make his next start last week in Houston, grinding through five innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks in what finished as a 7-6 loss.
He took the mound Tuesday hopeful the area would loosen up but that didn’t happen.
“It was too much for me to keep going,” Estrada said. “If it was on my right side, I would have pitched through yesterday, we wouldn’t have had any issues, we wouldn’t be talking about any of this. Unfortunately it’s on the left side, it’s the side I stretch, my left hand goes up pretty high and it stretches that area out, and then I land it and it bothers it. It’s just a bad area. I don’t think the injury is that significant, it’s the placement because that area does get stretched over and over and over.”
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Estrada said he’s previously experienced a similar pain on his right side “but not to this extent,” and dismissed the suggestion of a connection to his back issues.
“What I’ve been dealing with, the lower-back stuff, I don’t think that’s going to keep me off the field, it is what it is,” he said. “It’s there, I’ve been pitching through it, that’s the least of my worries right now.”
The current plan is for rest and treatment, interrupting the momentum he developed during a strong June, when he posted a 2.35 ERA in 30.2 innings over five starts with 27 strikeouts.
“Mechanically I’ve been feeling really good, I feel like my timing is on point right now, I have been making better pitchers, a little bit more quality pitches,” said Estrada. “It was tough in Houston trying to get through some of those because I couldn’t really give it everything I had, I guess, but it’s frustrating. I’ve been in a good place, pitching well and the team has been playing well, so I want to be there for all of this. It sucks I had to leave the game after only one out.”
There are bigger-picture concerns, too, for both the Blue Jays and the pending free agent, although Estrada’s focus is on one spot right now: “It’s hard for me to say right now but I’m going to do everything I can to make my next start.”
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