Pitcher Marco Estrada was placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Everything had been moving along so smoothly for the Toronto Blue Jays, they were due to hit a bump in the road.
Going for their fifth win in a row on Wednesday, and a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals, the Blue Jays said starting pitcher Marco Estrada was going on the 15-day disabled list as he deals with a lower-back injury. A day earlier, Estrada was picked for the American League All-star team.
That means Toronto will be without one of its best pitchers as the team wraps up an 11-game homestand with a four-game series against the Detroit Tigers beginning Thursday.
Conveniently for the Jays, Drew Hutchison, a right-hander with considerable major-league experience, is ready to step in with a spot start, which he will do in the first game against the Tigers.
Hutchison has made 72 career major-league starts, but is unlikely to fill the sizable hole left by Estrada. But he will help the Jays get to the all-star break, which begins Monday and allows for four days of rest before teams reconvene for season's second half.
"It's nice we've got the break coming up," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, whose lineup is also without star slugger Jose Bautista, infielder Ryan Goins and relief pitcher Gavin Floyd. Bautista, sidelined with turf toe, had his walking cast removed earlier in the week, and Gibbons recently said he hoped the veteran outfielder would return by the end of the month, though no definitive timeline has been set.
Estrada, meanwhile, will have to sit out what would have been his first career all-star appearance, next week in San Diego.
The 33-year-old expressed disappointment at missing the opportunity to pitch at the All-Star Game, but acknowledged that management's decision to place him on the DL was the right one.
"It's something I didn't want to hear," Estrada said. "I thought I was going to be able to get through it, fight my way through it, but I think we're doing the right thing. It was kind of taken out of my hands."
The plan is for Estrada to rest for the next 15 days. The team hopes he'll be ready to pitch when the Blue Jays return home July 22 for a series against the Seattle Mariners.
There is a chance Estrada's replacement on the AL all-star squad could come from within the Blue Jays' pitching ranks.
Both Aaron Sanchez (9-1, 2.94 earned-run average) and J.A. Happ (11-3, 3.54 ERA) have enjoyed strong seasons, helping Toronto's rotation post a major-league-best 56 quality starts (when a starting pitcher lasts at least six innings and allows no more than three earned runs) as of Wednesday.
Sanchez is considered a leading candidate. His .900 win percentage is the highest in franchise history before the all-star break by Blue Jays starters, and he hasn't lost a decision since April 22, a span of 13 starts.
"He's still on the short list," said Royals manager Ned Yost, who is also managing the AL all-stars. "There's three or four other guys, too. We'll get together as a staff and make a determination which way we're going to go with that.
"[Sanchez] is definitely an all-star-calibre-type pitcher."
Sanchez's continued success could derail the Jays' plan to move the 24-year-old to the bullpen in an effort to limit his workload.
Gibbons admitted as much Wednesday when asked if the Blue Jays would use two subsequent off-days in the week following the all-star break to push the right-hander's scheduled starts back in order to get him extra rest.
"I don't know why you'd want to slow him down, he's been pitching so damn good, you're trying to win some games," Gibbons said. "We've talked a little bit about that, who knows? Kind of painted ourselves into a corner, haven't we?"