Blue Jays facing decisions today with Estrada, Hutchison

The Blue Jays could use their upcoming schedule to get Marco Estrada back to full health

Marco Estrada is not at 100 percent. Heck, he might not be at 70 after gutting out another very impressive start for the Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon.

Knowing that the bullpen needed a breather following a 19-inning affair in which every reliever (and two middle-infielders) took the mound, Estrada managed to work five innings and throw 96 pitches. Just 58 of these went for strikes and his velocity, which typically sits in the region of 89-90 MPH, rested closer to 86-87 MPH.

Even taking the mound in the top of the first, Estrada already wasn’t right.

John Gibbons mentioned to the media following the game that Drew Hutchison would be sent back to triple-A with a corresponding move coming in the morning, but that was quickly retracted as Zwelling then reported the Blue Jays were awaiting MRI results on Estrada before acting.

Estrada’s pain was noticeable and undeniable, returning to the dugout at the pace of a light shuffle following each inning. At this point, the Blue Jays are not thinking about his next start – they’re thinking about September and October.

This nagging back injury has cropped up a handful of times now, and coming off a year in which Estrada topped 200 innings including the playoffs, he’s already at 104.1 through 16 starts. Thankfully, the Blue Jays have some flexibility.

Hutchison is, for now, on the roster. Even more importantly, the All-Star break is upcoming.

After a three-game set against the Royals and four against the Tigers, it’s four days off for Toronto before travelling to Oakland. Hutchison could conceivably take Estrada’s next turn in the rotation (vs. Kansas City) and have Estrada miss just one full trip through. If he requires more, there’s the flexibility to entertain that as well, but this is an issue the Blue Jays will want to leave in the month of July.

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Hutchison’s relief outing didn’t go as planned for the Blue Jays on Saturday, allowing two runs on three hits in his lone inning of work. A sample of 21 pitches shouldn’t skew his long-term prospects, though, as general manager Ross Atkins recently said that Hutchison would be considered for a bullpen role later in the season if he was no longer needed as insurance for the starting rotation.