When Alex Anthopoulos indicated to the assembled media that he had a major announcement coming, you just knew that the news was not going to be good for the Toronto Blue Jays. While some were hoping for a trade announcement, there were many believing that the out of the blue announcement could only be ominous, and they were right.
The Toronto Blue Jays have announced that starting pitcher Marcus Stroman has suffered a torn ACL and will be out for the entire 2015 season.
Stroman apparently tore the ACL in his knee during a bunt fielding exercise, per a different tweet sent by Mike Wilner of Sportsnet. The Blue Jays will send Stroman for a second opinion on the diagnosis, with the pitcher set to see Dr. James Andrews next week, but do not anticipate a change in diagnosis.
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Of all the arms in the rotation, the Blue Jays were most anticipating having a great season from Marcus Stroman in 2015, who was expected to slot in near the top of the rotation after a superb rookie season. In 26 games (20 starts), the right-hander posted an 11-6 record behind a solid 3.65 ERA, a 2.84 FIP, and a 53.8% ground-ball rate in 2014. That accounted for a 3.3 fWAR according to FanGraphs and the Blue Jays were hoping to see significant improvements on that with a full season in the rotation.
Already thin in the rotation, and possibly facing the expectation that Aaron Sanchez could begin the season in the bullpen, the Blue Jays may need to re-evaluate their moves in the wake of this news. Marco Estrada and Daniel Norris also figure into the rotation competition, with one of them likely to head to the bullpen if Toronto opts to keep Sanchez in the rotation as well. The Blue Jays also have out of options starter Liam Hendriks in camp, who could feasibly hold a roster spot and take a turn or two depending on what Toronto feels it can get out of Johan Santana late in April.
The Blue Jays could also look to make a trade of some sort, but they likely will not be in on expensive starters like Cliff Lee or Cole Hamels, both of whom will cost far more than Alex Anthopoulos would be willing to give up. Regardless, Toronto will certainly take stock of their position with Stroman out for the year and determine what that means for the team’s postseason aspirations in 2015.
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