Toronto Blue Jays: A Note to the Pre-Season Marco Estrada Haters

Oh how quickly people forget – I remember last November, when the Toronto Blue Jays made their trade with the Milwaukee Brewers, that sent slugger Adan Lind their way in exchange for Marco Estrada. At the time not many thought much of it.

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But in retrospect, this may have been the move that allowed the Jays to stay competitive until the All-Star break. It also may have been what allowed Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos to make those great deadline deals that have helped put the team in the position they are in now.

Everyone was penciling Estrada into the bullpen as a middle reliever before the season and this made no sense to me. If many had read my articles back then they would know that I was all for Estrada being a starter, with Aaron Sanchez being a late inning guy.

(I haven’t been sold on Sanchez being a starter yer, though I want him to be in the future. He has electrifying stuff, but has trouble with command and doesn’t have the secondary pitches necessary to be a real starter on a contender yet.

Aug 4, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marco Estrada (25) knuckles with acting manager DeMarlo Hale (16) as he prepares to leave the game against Minnesota Twins in the seventh inning at Rogers Centre. Estrada was the winning pitcher in a 3-1 win for the Jays. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

If the Jays weren’t as good, I’d love to see Sanchez start and work on things, but on a team built to win now, the benefits are for him to be in the bullpen. Shout out to my brother Tyler Dunsmore and whoever else was also on board with this forward way of thinking.)

Estrada just dominated in the Bronx, to complete a sweep of the Yankees before going into an off-day. That was a huge outing – not that the Jays absolutely needed it considering their recent tear and the fact they already won the series in New York.

However, it definitely was a huge win to finish off a sweep of a team ahead of them in the standings. Estrada allowed only six base runners in 6 1/3 shutout innings.

He has really helped stabilize a starting rotation that was badly in need of a dark horse stepping up. Though I never saw him as a dark horse.

Since becoming a regular starter in 2012, Estrada has posted an ERA under 4, while striking out just under a batter an inning. Looking at his numbers, then seeing his mediocre stuff gave me the real impression of who he is – he’s a real competitor.

Estrada, doesn’t have the ability to blow guys away, he has to make good pitches and yet he also isn’t afraid to challenge anyone with his 89-91 MPH fastball. The guy throws strikes and just comes at you.

You can live with a pitcher who gets hit now and again, but is all around the zone going after guys. It’s much more frustrating to see a pitcher with more ability tip-toe around the strike zone with great stuff while giving away freebie runs from Hit By Pitches and Walks.

With Marco, what you see is what you get. As a fan of baseball, you have to respect that.

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