Marcus Stroman is scheduled to face a media scrum at 9 am Eastern Wednesday morning to discuss his injury. I don't know if we can expect too much news from the conference but maybe seeing him talk about the incident would be helpful in getting us to move on.
It was a pretty devastating day yesterday for Blue Jays fans. I know that I felt pretty brutal after I learned the news--it felt like I was punched in the chest. I don't know if I had ever really felt that way about sports news before, even during that week when the Jays lost three of their starters over four games.
Yesterday was emotional but today is a new day so it's time to start using sound thoughts and observations to consider the Blue Jays' options. While they probably won't find anyone who can replace Storman, there are decent enough arms in camp that the Jays won't have to resort to truly desperate measures like giving starts to the likes of Ramon Ortiz, Chien-Ming Wang, or Aaron Laffey.
Two of Aaron Sanchez, Marco Estrada, or Daniel Norris can fill in the last two places of the rotation. If they need to dip further into their pitching depth, the Jays would find Chad Jenkins, Todd Redmond, and Liam Hendriks (only in large parks). The timing of Stroman's injury in the first half of camp is probably fortuitous, as the club would ensure that all contenders for the rotations are stretched out and they will be able to observe their performance with the goal of filling two of the starting five in their minds.
Also, the Jays have a few wildcards in Johan Santana, Jeff Francis, Andrew Albers, and Ricky Romero, not that any of us should expect any of them to contribute in any way to the major league ballclub. But hey, a renaissance is possible. It could happen! Miguel Castro and Roberto Osuna are possible mid-season call-ups, but their proper development is more important than any replacement role they would serve in Toronto.
Come join our live thread here at 9 am Eastern. The media meeting is scheduled to be broadcast live on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 590, and sportsnet.ca.
UPDATE (9:45 am)
Some notes from the press scrum:
- Stroman walked to and away from the press scrum (in a Raptors "We The North" cap) on his own power, but he was limping and periodically grimacing in pain as we see here from TSN's Scott MacArthur:
- Stroman put on a very brave face, speaking of the positives and being upbeat, but it was clear that he was pretty bummed that he will miss the entire season.
- The pain is "a lot worse than yesterday," Stroman told the press.
- He feels that, despite working as hard as ever this offseason, he has left the team down.
- Stroman stresses that it was just a freak accident, his knees just popped, nothing negligent or malicious.
- The surgery is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday the 17th. The Stroman family will be flying down to be with him.
- Stroman said a couple of times that there are a lot of people out there more worried about this injury that he. He is certain that he will make a full recovery and come back better and stronger. He referenced non-roster invitee Scott Barnes, who made a full recovery after tearing his left knee (but non-plant knee) ACL also fielding a bunt back in 2011.
- Stroman will try to rehab in Toronto to be around the team and his friends. Hardest part of being injured will be being away from his teammates and best friends.
- He was asked about his "baseball dad" Mark Buehrle, who Stroman said was very upset for him. Stroman will still try to hang around Buehrle as much as possible (note that his baseball dad will be a free agent after this season).