DUNEDIN, Fla. – Marco Estrada is one of 10 players in the Toronto Blue Jays organization selected to a World Baseball Classic roster, although as a member of Team Mexico’s designated pitcher pool, it’s unlikely he’ll actually pitch in the tournament.
“I told [Team Mexico officials] I’ve got to be 100 per cent ready for the Blue Jays season and if I’m not 100 per cent ready, if I can’t give them 100 per cent, then I’m not going to go,” the all-star right-hander said Tuesday. “Everybody thinks it’s because of my back – it’s my arm. I just want to make sure it’s ready to go because when you’re out there, you want to give it your all and it’s hard to hold back, whereas in spring training games you can hold back and you can work on stuff.
“So I told them I’ve got to be ready to go.”
The designated pitcher pool, or DPP, is a new wrinkle to the World Baseball Classic this year, allowing teams to sub in a couple of pitchers from a pre-selected list between rounds of the event.
Fellow Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ is on the United States’ DPP while Marcus Stroman will go wire to wire with the American squad.
“I haven’t gotten the specifics [on usage] yet but I’ll be with them the whole time,” said Stroman. “It’s an unbelievable opportunity, I’m just going to go and soak it all up, man. Can’t wait.”
Closer Roberto Osuna will be active for Mexico in the first round of the Classic but will be subbed out in the second round, while minor-leaguers Leonel Campos (Venezuela) and Jake Fishman (Israel) are on the DPP lists for their teams.
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Pitching prospects Shane Dawson (Canada) and Jordan Romano (Italy) will be active in the first round. Jose Bautista (Dominican Republic) and Dalton Pompey (Canada) are the only Blue Jays position players headed to the tournament.
Estrada’s off-season workouts focused on strengthening his core as a way to avoid the back issues that troubled him last season, and he reports feeling good on that front. His plan is to build up slowly for the regular season, which is why he doesn’t plan on adjusting his routine to ensure his readiness for the Classic’s second round, should Mexico get that far.
“If at one point here I say I’m ready to go, then I’ll let them know,” he explained. “It’s another month away so there’s still a lot of time. Physically I feel great, I feel ready but it’s being able to locate pitches and it’s not like I’m breaking off curveballs right now, or even changeups. I’ve got to make sure all that stuff is intact for this season, for us. Once it’s ready and it comes in time, maybe I will go play with them.”
Estrada, then with the Milwaukee Brewers, pitched for Mexico in the 2013 Classic, starting the 10-3 loss to Canada that included a wild ninth-inning brawl he described as “the craziest one I’ve been a part of.”
“There were a lot of punches being thrown, a lot of people were hit,” said Estrada. “Team Canada was a lot bigger than us, too, those guys put up a good fight. But it was unfortunate to see, you don’t want to see that over any game. …
“I was just there trying to calm people down. Most major-leaguers that were there, that’s what they were trying to do.”
