'This is my favourite place': Marco Estrada reflects on career with Blue Jays

Jenn Smith

'This is my favourite place': Marco Estrada reflects on career with Blue Jays image

TORONTO -- Few moments in Blue Jays’ history are remembered as iconic.

George Bell dropping to his knees. Roberto Alomar’s raised arms. Leaping Joe Carter. José Bautista’s bat flip. Edwin Encarnacion’s bat drop. Josh Donaldson’s dash.

There is one moment, perhaps, that stands out from the rest – a solitary figure walking off the mound to a standing ovation, head down, right arm raised, pointing at the crowd. It was as though the player was sharing a private moment with each of the 49,325 fans, an outward expression of an internal emotion.

"I remember Gibby going out there and he basically just said 'wow' and I remember handing him the ball and all I remember was how loud this place got”, Marco Estrada reminisced about Game 5 of the 2015 ALCS. “I've never been part of anything like that, and I was just telling myself 'wow, you've got to do something here, you know? This is the biggest ovation you've ever had. One of the biggest games you've ever pitched in'. And all I thought was 'man, I'm just going to thank the fans. Like, they're the ones that gave me all this energy because they were into every single pitch. And it got my adrenalin going and it just made pitching a lot of fun. I was into every single pitch just like they were and it was because of them. They were so loud on every single strike call and every out. I remember, you know, 'I'm just going to point at them as a thank you, thank you guys. And that's kind of what I did and I guess it stuck."

Estrada allowed one run on three hits over 7.2 innings in that 7-1 win over the Royals, though Kansas City went on to win that series – and the World Series.

 

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Fans were not as enamored with Marco Estrada when he was first traded to the Jays from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for Adam Lind. The reaction was tempered at best – Estrada is well aware of how his acquisition was met – with many fearing the fly ball pitcher would be a disaster at the hitter-friendly Rogers Centre.

Estrada, for his part, was not initially thrilled with the trade, either. Although he wasn’t too sure what to think about pitching in a strong division with very small ballparks, the idea of leaving the Brewers after five seasons did not sit well with him.

“Honestly, I was a little upset,” he shared with Sporting News. “I had been in Milwaukee for five years. I had a lot of fun there, you know, great group of guys. The coaching staff was great. So I was upset that I was being traded. It didn't really matter to where I was going, but once I did hear that it was Toronto I had heard a lot of horror stories on how you've got to cross the border and go through customs and taxes and cost of living. I was just like, geez. What's going to happen now?"

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As it turned out, neither he nor fans had any reason to be concerned. His 2015 season saw him establish a new career-high in innings pitched (181.0), as well as a career-best HR/FB rate (8.7%) and ERA (3.13) while drastically reducing his hard contact rate over each of his previous three seasons.

Estrada says that everything just came together for him in 2015. He started working on his cutter, which he started to use, his changeup improved, and he put faith in his catchers to call a good game. The most significant difference, however, was a change in his mindset. When Estrada arrived in Toronto, he received mentoring from another soft-tossing pitcher.

“I had Mark Buehrle to kind of teach me a little more. So I put that all together and it ended up being a really good year for me. But I think the mental aspect of it, what Buehrle taught me was probably the biggest thing for me that kind of changed my career around.”

Estrada credits Buehrle for changing his mindset with regards to using his changeup, telling Marco that he should stick to his guns, make his pitches and move on. It’s a strategy that served him well. In back-to-back starts in June 2015, Estrada took a no-hitter into the eighth inning (one start was a near perfect game), becoming the first pitcher to do so since Dave Stieb in 1988.

 

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Although he began the season on the disabled list with a back injury, the good times kept rolling for Estrada in 2016. He set a franchise record for allowing five or fewer hits in ten consecutive starts as well as an MLB record for eleven straight starts allowing five hits or fewer over six innings pitched. He was subsequently named to the American League All-Star team, but was unable to pitch due to his back.

"It was very frustrating. I might never get that opportunity again,” explained Estrada. “It was something that I've always wanted to be part of. Which I was, but I wanted to pitch in it, I wanted to pitch against the best of the best and I didn't get to.”

Despite several stand-out moments in a Blue Jays’ uniform, Estrada is most proud of his final start before that 2016 All-Star game when, despite pitching in gruelling pain, he gutted out a five-inning outing in which he gave up just three runs in what ultimately was a 9-6 victory. He says he has always been proud of taking the ball every fifth day, and shared with Sporting News just how difficult – and ultimately how rewarding – that start was for him.

“I remember how much pain I was in. I had that back issue and I had a back brace on, and I think my first pitch of the game was 82 miles an hour or so and I looked up and I said 'how am I going to get through this?' and I think (Darwin) Barney threw me a ball and he bounced it and I couldn't even get down to pick it up. But I got through five innings and I remember coming off, I was so proud of myself that I grinded through something so painful and I actually gave the team the chance to win. To me honestly, that's been one of the biggest accomplishments I've had, just kind of grinding through something so painful or whatever. And just being out there, you know, helping the guys win. That meant a lot to me."

 

Estrada was rewarded by being named the Opening Day starter in 2017 – a season in which he posted a fWAR just 0.4 points below his 2016 total – but the team as a whole failed to live up to expectations. This season has been one of the worst of Estrada’s career, and for at least part of the season, he has been once again dealing with back pain, which flared up roughly six weeks ago, likely due to compensating for a hip strain. Not one to make excuses, he has this to offer about his disappointing 2018 campaign:

“I just haven't pitched well. Plain and simple,” offered Estrada. “It's not easy pitching up here and, yeah, obviously having an injury doesn't help, but I can't use that as an excuse. I just need to locate better.

“This is the worst I've ever pitched and, I hate even saying that, it sucks, but it's reality and you just got to keep working hard and get healthy and I know I can pitch a lot better than this. And, I will. But this season is what it is, it's done.”

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Estrada took the mound for likely the last time in a Blue Jays’ uniform Monday night, an underwhelming likely end to his career in Toronto: four earned runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings pitched, elevating his ERA to 5.64. Baseball, as he acknowledged, is a business, and given the shift towards youth that the Jays have undertaken, it appears unlikely that the Blue Jays would re-sign the 35-year old. As Estrada walked off the mound, he was once again met with a standing ovation. Once again, Marco acknowledged the fans.

"I don't know what's going to happen next year, but I gave them a quick thank you,” Estrada told the media post-game. “They've always been behind me. They've been the greatest fans ever and how can I not be thankful? It's been awesome. Hopefully, it's not my last one, but, if it is here, I'm thankful for everything that the fans have given me for their support. I love it here. I love Toronto and I love the fans. So, I'm thankful for everything they did for me."

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If this is in fact Estrada’s final days with Toronto, he will miss the coaches and players and, naturally, the city that has embraced him.

"Now this is my favourite place”, he says. “I don't know if I'll ever play for another place as cool as Toronto.”

When asked if he wishes that something had worked out differently, Estrada answers immediately. It is the answer one would expect, but his answer took on a uniquely personal quality as he shared a story about the night before that fateful Game Five start.

"I still feel in 2015 we by far had the best lineup in the game and the best team overall and, you know, I actually had a dream that I woke up and I woke up with a ring on my finger and I saw it and it was so vivid. I saw the ring, I saw everything and I told myself 'We're going to win the World Series'. And this was before I had pitched the Game 5. So I saw the ring and I said "we're going to win this thing and we're going to win tonight and we're just going to take it all the way”. We ended up winning that night and I just kept telling myself 'oh, my God, this is going to come true. I saw the ring, I know exactly what it's going to be like'. And then my dreams were shattered the very game, unfortunately, but I just wish things had been a little bit different, I wish things would have gone our way that game because, really, deep down inside, I feel like we would have taken the whole thing."

Jenn Smith