Toronto Blue Jays should start Norris, Sanchez in majors in 2015

Blue Jays die-hards, do your best to keep the name Herb Score out of your mind.

You lost pitcher Marcus Stroman for the season due to an ACL tear, which he sustained during a fielding drill on Tuesday. Stroman was the most recent flower to bud from your farm system, with the likes of outfielder Dalton Pompey, second baseman Devon Travis and two pitchers pulsating with potential not far behind. He dazzled you in 2014, going 11-6 with a 3.65 ERA, 1.171 WHIP and 3.96 K/BB. He seemed destined for greatness.

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Much like Score, Stroman now faces an injury that could derail his career, except heading into 1957, Score’s supernova burned even brighter. He won the Rookie of the Year award in 1955 and pitched to a combined 36-19 record and 2.68 ERA from ’55 to ’56.

Then came May 7, 1957, when a Gil McDougal line drive struck Score in the face, ending his season and his voyage to the annals of pitching super-stardom.

Let’s hope Stroman’s injury doesn’t play out the same way. If he can respond the way Yovani Gallardo did, he may be pitching again sooner than originally thought.

Stroman will pitch again in 2016, but in the meantime, the Blue Jays must worry about 2015’s rotation. R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle and Drew Hutchinson are back, but Stroman was billed to lead the staff and now the Jays have two spots to fill instead of one.

The Jays have options; Cole Hamels hasn’t been traded yet, Johan Santana is now on the payroll trying to resurrect his career, and the team traded Adam Lind this offseason to the Brewers and got Marco Estrada in return; but the most enticing options are those two pitchers who are about to bloom.

Daniel Norris, 21, has pitched himself into the discussion of the best left-handed prospect in baseball alongside Carlos Rodon of the White Sox, Henry Owens of the Red Sox and Julio Urias of the Dodgers. His K/9 IP has risen each of the past three seasons, including an outlandish 11.8 between three levels of the minors in 2014. He also posted a career best WHIP (1.118) and walk rate (3.8/9 IP) of his young career in ‘14.

Norris only made one start in the majors last season, throwing 3.1 innings and giving up two runs on one hit and two walks to the Mariners as a September call up. That negligible start aside, Norris has the tools—consistent mid-90s fastball, potent slider and plus curveball—and track record to garner legitimate consideration.

The other pitcher is Aaron Sanchez. Sanchez appeared in 24 games for the Blue Jays out of the bullpen in 2014, putting up noteworthy numbers: 1.09 ERA, .697 WHIP and a 3.00 K/BB ratio. His success in the pen suggests the Jays should leave him there in 2015, especially considering Sanchez wasn’t as effective as a starter: Sanchez walked 4.8 batters per nine innings during his minor league career and had a K/BB ratios of 1.47 and 1.88 the past two seasons.

One thing to note about Sanchez is that he is an extreme ground ball pitcher who historically produces about three times as many groundouts as flyouts. In the majors, 65.9 percent of balls put in play against him were ground balls. This is important to consider because there is another reliever with a striking similar ground ball/fly ball rate who made the switch from starter to reliever—Brad Ziegler. Ziegler, from 2004 to 2006, had a 4.23 ERA as a starter. He moved to the bullpen in 2007 and promptly posted a 2.41 ERA. He’s been decently effective ever since.

Sanchez’s arsenal is more potent than Ziegler’s and should make him more dominant. Sanchez’s fastball averaged 97 mph out of the pen, according to FanGraphs–only four pitchers threw harder–while Ziegler is a submariner who throws a mid-80s sinker.

The Blue Jays can afford to give these two pitchers a shot in 2015. The Yankees lineup won’t give anyone nightmares. The Red Sox have too many talented players on their roster, and not in a good way, especially if new left fielder Hanley Ramirez gets cranky playing defense while the Green Monster lurks. Who knows what to expect from the Rays. The Orioles played in the ALCS last season, but they lost outfielders Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis. Even if Norris and Sanchez experience some growing pains, it would lay the groundwork for 2016 when they would be rejoined by Score, er, Stroman.

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