Jays' Stroman hopes to right ship versus Angels (Apr 23, 2017)
ANAHEIM -- Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman was a 23-year-old rookie in his third professional season when he first faced the Los Angeles Angels in 2014. They did not welcome him warmly to the major leagues.
In two appearances, he was tagged for 14 hits and 10 runs in 5 1/3 innings, with the Angels winning both games. That was then. Stroman starts Sunday afternoon's game at Angel Stadium seven months after a stellar outing in 2016, allowing two runs and seven hits in six innings in a game where he received no run support.
Stroman, the winning pitcher in the World Baseball Classic championship game against Puerto Rico, pitched six one-hit innings in the 8-0 win for the U.S. He is arguably the ace, or at least one of three stout starters, for the Blue Jays, alongside Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ.
Sunday, he'll be trying to give the Blue Jays a much-needed win. The reigning American League East champions opened 1-9 and lost their first five series of the season, the first Blue Jays team to do so and the first in the AL since the 2010 Orioles dropped their first seven series.
Happ is on the 10-day disabled list and Alex Sanchez is sidelined with blister issues. Casey Lawrence made his first major league start Saturday and did what the Blue Jays needed most, give the bullpen a breather after a 13-inning game Friday.
He allowed eight hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings, and his only big mistake was the pitch Andrelton Simmons hit for a grand slam in the third. Leonal Campos made his season debut in relief and allowed a hit in 1 2/3 innings.
The Blue Jays staff is in a much better state than the Angels because of injuries old and new.
Journeyman Ricky Nolasco, the Angels' opening day starter, has the best ERA of any starter at 4.76. They recalled Alex Meyer for his first major league start Friday in the Jays' 8-7 13-inning win. According to the club web site, newly recalled right-hander Daniel Wright will start Sunday after scheduled starter Jesse Chavez had to pitch in relief Friday.
Sunday, the Angels moved Garrett Richards, one of their most promising pitchers, from the 10-day to the 60-day disabled list. He tore the UCL in his right elbow last season, had stem cell treatment rather than surgery as a corrective measure, and then reinjured his elbow in his first start of 2017, lasting 4 2/3 innings.
The Angels have eight pitchers on the disabled list and Richards joins veteran closer Huston Street (shoulder) on the 60-day. Closer Cam Bedrosian, who had not allowed a run in six appearances, was put on the 10-day DL on Saturday with a groin strain.
The Angels also recalled right-hander Kirby Yates from Salt Lake City while replacing Bedrosian and Meyer, who was shuffled back to Salt Lake City.
Wright won his last start in the minors, while Yates, who made 41 appearances with the Yankees in 2016, had a 2.57 ERA at Salt Lake in six relief stints.
