Marco Estrada pitches against the Cleveland Indians on Saturday, July 2, 2016.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Tuesday was a whirlwind of a day for Marco Estrada.
The Blue Jays starter, on his 33rd birthday, learned that for the first time he was named to the American League All-Star Team, in recognition of an incredible first half of the 2016 season in which his pitching statistics ranked among the best in baseball.
The news also came a day after he received cortisone shots to his lower back; he strained it over the weekend and the injury could prevent him from making his All-Star debut.
But not even that worst-case scenario could keep a smile off Estrada's face as he recounted the unlikely road he took from struggling National League starter to Blue Jays long reliever to front of Toronto's starting rotation.
"It's been a roller-coaster ride, I guess," Estrada said prior to the Blue Jays evening game against the Kansas City Royals at Rogers Centre. "I really didn't know what would happen after the 2014 season."
That was a forgettable campaign for Estrada. Pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers, the right-hander gave up a major-league-worst 29 home runs that year. He was dealt to Toronto that offseason in exchange for first baseman Adam Lind, joined the Blue Jays' bullpen at the beginning of last season and was given a shot at a starting role in May.
To the surprise of many, he climbed through the rotation, out-pitching his peers to become Toronto's best season-long starter as the Jays clinched their first division title since 1993.
So far this season, Estrada has kept pace with his electric second-half numbers from 2015, when he posted a 2.73 earned run average and a walks-and-hits-per-innings pitched (WHIP) rate of 0.91. In 2016, the right-hander's stats include a 2.94 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP.
"Marco, I think he should've been in the Cy Young conversation last year, I think he would've been if he had've started the season as a starting pitcher," said Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson. "What he's done is like a magician out there."
Estrada has become the spiritual successor to Mark Buehrle, the Blue Jays soft-tossing left-hander who, before retiring, made a career out of off-speed pitching. Estrada is a bit of an anomaly among the star pitchers of the game in that he doesn't throw blistering heat. Instead, he relies on an 86-miles-per-hour fastball and what is universally considered a lethal changeup, which he employs 32 per cent of the time, to great success.
He said he's proud to prove to kids out there that they don't have to hit 100 mph on the radar gun to succeed in the big leagues.
"I want to keep showing that," Estrada said, "showing guys who are young, in high school, whatever, who don't think they throw hard enough."
But even as he celebrated his birthday and enjoyed due recognition from the baseball world, Estrada was dealing with a nagging back injury that might force him to sit out his next scheduled start, which is Thursday against Detroit.
"It could be a little far-fetched to think he'd pitch Thursday," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.
A more likely scenario would see Drew Hutchison make a spot start, pushing Estrada back to Friday or even Saturday, Gibbons said.
In the event he's not ready to go by that point, Estrada said he may have to avoid pitching at the All-Star Game, which takes place in San Diego on July 12.
"I want to pitch – my first time [at the All-Star Game] could be my only time," said Estrada, who was voted to the AL team along with fellow Blue Jays Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion. Toronto outfielder Michael Saunders could also be selected in a final vote on Friday. "But also, the team has to come first, and if I can't pitch for the team, I shouldn't pitch anywhere else."