Hutchison, Stroman Vital to Toronto Blue Jays’ Future
By Tim Boyle
The Toronto Blue Jays’ starting rotation has not been their biggest strength for quite some time. You probably have to go back to the time when Roy Halladay was on the roster to even consider their pitching as a real asset. Even then, Halladay was a one-man army eating up innings and finishing what he started. Now with a very good lineup, the team needs some help from the starting rotation if they want to end what is currently the longest playoff drought in baseball.
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Two keys to the Blue Jays’ success in 2015 are starting pitchers Drew Hutchison and Marcus Stroman. These two young arms are at the opposite ends of their careers from fellow starting pitchers Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey. Hutchison and Stroman have a big opportunity to impact the 2015 season and beyond.
After 11 starts in 2012, Hutchison didn’t pitch again in the majors until 2014. It was an interesting season with as much good as there was bad. If not for a few miserable starts against the New York Yankees, Hutchison’s 4.48 season ERA would have been a lot better. In six starts against the them, Hutchison was 2-4 with a 5.17 ERA.
Unfortunately as division rivals, he’s going to see them plenty again in 2015. Thankfully his 3-1 record and 2.54 ERA against the Baltimore Orioles made up a bit for his shortcomings against the Bronx Bombers.
Meanwhile, the 2014 season was the first for Stroman at the MLB level. In 26 appearances — 20 as starter — Stroman was 11-6 with a 3.65 ERA. He too had those moments of solidity following by nights of frailty. For instance, in July Stroman started five games. In four of those starts he pitched seven innings each and combined for only one allowed run. In the other start, he only lasted 3.2 innings while allowed six runs to cross the plate.
August was much more miserable for Stroman. He saw his ERA rise from 3.03 at the beginning of the month to 3.97 by the end. Aided by a very good September, he was able to lower his ERA to a more favorable number.
Aided by the wisdom and pitch framing skills of catcher Russell Martin, Hutchison and Stroman should progress along at an acceptable rate and development into reliable rotation mates. Considering Buehrle and Dickey’s age, the future of this rotation belongs to these two.For this reason, along with the fact that the Blue Jays do not really have a proven bullpen, makes upcoming success pertinent this season for these two young starters.