DUNEDIN, Fla. — Daniel Norris wasn’t satisfied with his outing against the New York Yankees Saturday, but that may reveal more about the left-hander’s competitive nature than it does about the start itself.
Norris pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out four in a 1-0 Toronto Blue Jays win. Many pitchers would be happy with a day like that, but the Blue Jays’ prized 21-year-old prospect thought he was merely ‘OK.’
“I think that’s just Daniel Norris,” catcher Russell Martin said. “That’s how he is. He expects a lot of himself and I feel like that’s what’s going to make him a great pitcher. Everybody has a different attitude, but he definitely wants to be better, wants to improve every time he’s out there.”
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Norris did just that Saturday, when he put together his best outing of the spring by many measures. It’s a positive development for a pitcher who’s competing with Aaron Sanchez and Marco Estrada for the two open spots in Toronto’s rotation. While manager John Gibbons is understandably hesitant to tip his hand when it comes to the rotation, he acknowledged that Norris looked like a big league pitcher out there.
“He was great,” Gibbons said. “He’s starting to get stretched out a little bit. He looked a little more relaxed, a little more comfortable. He’s starting to build up a little bit, starting to use his breaking ball a little more.”
Martin liked that Norris stayed aggressive on the mound, mixing in his slider and curveball early and often to complement a fastball that topped out at 94 mph. Gibbons thought Martin worked well with Norris against a Yankees lineup featuring five regulars.
Before the start — Martin’s first with Norris — pitching coach Pete Walker had warned the catcher that Norris can get overly amped up when he pitches.
“When you’re young and you’re going out there and competing, there’s just so much energy and so much adrenaline, sometimes it’s hard to be under control,” Martin said Friday. “Not just physically, but of his emotions too and let the talent play.”
So as Saturday’s start unfolded, Martin reminded Norris to breathe in an attempt to keep him composed. As far as Martin could tell, it worked.
“To me from the outside he looked calm,” Martin said. “I don’t know how he felt on the inside, but he was under control.”
Norris generated four ground ball outs and two fly ball outs plus the four strikeouts, which included whiffs of Alex Rodriguez, Brett Gardner and Carlos Beltran. The Yankees hit a few balls hard, but Norris showed solid command, issuing just one walk although he battled location issues for brief stretches.
“That’s the thing for him,” Gibbons said. “If he throws it into that strike zone, he’s going to be real, real tough.”
Next time out, Norris expects to be sharper, even if it’s a lot to ask.
“I understand that,” he said. “I’m well aware of how hard it is to try to be perfect.”
He’s not satisfied now, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“You want to be a good judge of yourself and your performance,” Martin said. “Only he knows how good he can be.”
It’s too early to determine the answer to that just yet, but the way he’s pitching now seems to have him on track for a spot in Toronto’s opening day rotation.