DUNEDIN, Fla. — After pitching two-plus innings on Sunday afternoon, Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada felt stiff, sore and ... wonderful.
The soreness and stiffness were to be expected. Estrada, who had a break-out season last year, had been dealing with a lower back injury and Sunday’s start against the Pittsburgh Pirates represented his first appearance in the Grapefruit League.
And while he was a little shaky early — starting the first inning by walking John Jaso and then giving up a home run to Andrew McCutchen — and didn’t feel all that great warming up, Estrada settled down and was certainly relieved afterwards to finally get some work against big league opposition.