Marco Estrada has always been a fourth or fifth starting pitcher for the teams he’s worked for in the big leagues. He never got anybody excited about his stuff. And at 32, it was starting to look like he never would.
Was that fourth or fifth starter stuff Estrada displayed Wednesday in Game 5 of the ALCS against the Kansas City Royals? Maybe on the New York Mets’ staff, but that’s about it.
Estrada used his 89 mph fastball — in fairness, it sometimes touches 90 and even 91 on a full moon — and a devastating change-up to put the Royals’ lumber into a deep slumber.