When the Toronto Blue Jays signed Dioner Navarro to a two-year, $8 million contract last winter, two questions surfaced right away: could he stay healthy, and could he hit?
So far, the answer to both questions has been ‘yes.’ Navarro surpassed his 2013 games played total weeks ago, and he’s on track to set a career high in games played early next month.
He has been productive at the plate, too. He takes pride in having set a new career high in RBI (55), and in reaching double digits in home runs for the second consecutive season. All told, he’s been worth 1.2 wins above replacement – a massive improvement over J.P. Arencibia’s dismal 2013 season for a team that needed one. Navarro says his first year in Toronto has gone ‘great.’
“The welcoming has been great, the reception has been great and after everything I went through, having this opportunity again to play every day,” Navarro said. “I would consider myself a pretty likeable guy and I’m just so happy — so thrilled — that this happened this year.”
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The offensive contributions have helped, but Navarro has also worked closely with the Blue Jays’ young arms, catching thousands of pitches from the likes of Marcus Stroman, Drew Hutchison and Aaron Sanchez.
He knows the Blue Jays’ young arms as well as anyone.
Sportsnet discussed Toronto’s young arms with Navarro. Here’s a transcript of the conversation:
What have you see from Marcus Stroman in his rookie year?
It’s no secret, he’s one of the guys they were trying to develop to turn into the number one or two for the future. He came up in the bullpen, got sent back down and then joined the rotation and he’s been great. He’s going through a rough stretch right now, but sometimes I think young players need to go through that to see what they’re made of. Everybody goes through it. I’ve been in this league for a long time, and there are some rough times. It’s up to you to keep competing to keep going after it, to keep trying to get better every day and I think he has showed that.
How does Stroman’s stuff compare against other big league pitchers?
Stuff-wise he’s up there. He’s got a mid-90s fastball, great slider, good curveball. He’s working on his change-up. Good two-seamer. Stuff-wise he’s there. I just think it’s up to time and seasoning to get to use all of those pitches and to do his best. It’s going to take time. It’s not going to happen overnight, but I think he’s definitely heading in the right direction.
What stands out about Aaron Sanchez?
Nasty sinker man. He’s anywhere from 96-99 [mph]. He’s really challenging to catch, but as long as he keeps throwing strikes, he’s going to be just fine. It’s not easy to find someone who throws that hard with that type of movement and, as you can see, he has made a lot of hitters look bad and made me look good.
What kind of adjustments would he have to make to join the starting rotation in 2015?
The challenge of doing it consistently over five or six innings. I believe if he goes to the rotation his velocity is going to have to drop down and he’s going to have to find that secondary pitch, which I think he has, which is the curveball, but I think he’s going to need another pitch. He’s got a change-up and hasn’t had to use it much since he comes out of the ‘pen throwing gas. I think [Sanchez and Stroman] are heading in the right way for the team for next year.
It’s been an up and down year for Drew Hutchison, but what do you make of his season?
It’s just part of the game, man. You’re facing the best hitters in the world — the best players in the world — and it’s not always going to be easy. He almost threw a no-hitter against one of the best teams in the league. He’s had some rough stretches and personally I would love for a little bit more consistency. But those three guys — I think it’s going to be exciting for me next year.
On this staff whose fastball has the most life?
Sanchez.
Who has the most electric breaking ball?
Cecil [after giving the question some thought Navarro chose Brett Cecil’s curveball].
The change-up can be an under-rated pitch. Which change-ups are the best on this staff?
Mark [Buehrle] has a good change-up and Hutchison can be good at times. [Dustin] McGowan’s change-up can be good, too. It’s up to how they feel and how they’re throwing. The change-up has been such an under-rated pitch that even if the change-up gets hit, it’s a good pitch to put in the hitter’s mind.
Is it safe to assume the change is mostly a weapon against opposite-handed hitters?
Back in the day I was catching one of the best change-ups I ever caught, [right-hander] James Shields, and he would abuse right-handed hitters with change-ups. I asked him about it and he said he loves to because it looks like a fastball out of the hand and right-handed hitters facing right-handed pitchers focus away. I’m trying to preach that to every guy I can.
