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TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips answers several questions surrounding the game each week. This week's topics include Marcus Stroman gone for the season, Drew Hutchison wanting to throw over 200 innings this season and if Alex Rodriguez has enough to win fans over this season.

With Marcus Stroman gone for the season and Aaron Sanchez likely moving into the rotation, where does that leave the Blue Jays' bullpen heading into the season? Where does a prospect like Miguel Castro or an out of options player like Kyle Drabek fit in the mix? Is Brett Cecil a strong enough anchor or should the Jays be looking outside of the organization for solutions?

What a horrible loss for the Jays.  Marcus Stroman was ready to emerge as the ace of the Jays in 2015.  I was in Toronto’s camp on Tuesday and was ready to pick the Blue Jays as my AL East Division Champion in the morning but by the afternoon they had become a third place team. 

At this stage, I will be shocked if the rotation doesn’t include Aaron Sanchez and Marcos Estrada behind RA Dickey, Mark Buerhle and Drew Hutchison.  Daniel Norris will have to go to AAA for further grooming so the organization has the depth it will need to get through the season.  Norris can be the shot in the arm the organization needs at some point later in the year.  There is no way Norris is a solution in the bullpen to start the season.

I don’t believe that Kyle Drabek is a legitimate option in the pen either.  If he were to factor in it would only be as a long man.  He doesn’t have the swing and miss stuff that is needed late in the game. 

On the other hand, Miguel Castro is an option. Despite being only 20 years old, his fastball gives him instant maturity.  Guys who throw 98 have much more margin for error than guys who throw 90-92.  Another 20-year-old, Roberto Ozuna, has an explosive fastball as well but doesn’t command it as much as Castro.  There is a reason these two youngsters were given non-roster invites to camp.  Their fastballs are loud!  They have the kid of stuff that can get the games best hitters to swing and miss.  Plus when a pitcher throws that hard he can make mistakes in the zone and get away with it. 

Alex Anthopolous is focusing on solving the immediate need internally while pushing his scouts to identify both starting pitcher and relief candidates that are available by trade.  The reality is that the only pitchers who are typically available during spring training are those who failed to make a team’s roster.  Anthopolous does still have Dionner Navarro as a trade chip.  He won’t bring back a starter of any significance, but if a club loses their starting catcher to an injury, he may be able to leverage him into a quality reliever.    

The bottom line though is that the Jays’ window to win won’t be open forever.  If it takes a prospect to solve their needs instead of Navarro, Anthopolous needs to make the deal.

Speaking of Blue Jays' pitching, Drew Hutchison says he wants to throw over 200 innings this season - his second campaign after having Tommy John surgery. He threw 184.2 last year and finished pain free, so should the Jays let him throw as many innings as he can this year?

It is time to take the reigns off Drew Hutchison.  The organization says so and so does Hutchison himself.  He told me on Tuesday that he wants to take the next step.  He understands that this team needs him to progress to a spot in front of RA Dickey and Mark Buerhle in the rotation this season.  The Jays need it even more now with the Stroman injury.

Alex Anthopolous told him he is too good to have a 4.48 ERA.  Alex is right.  Hutchison needs to get beyond his first-inning struggles.  He has to change his physical and emotional preparation so that he can use all of his stuff effectively from his first pitch. 

The mental part of the game is what separates the good pitchers from the great pitchers.  The good news for Hutchison is that he has a great teacher behind the plate calling the game for him now.  The right-hander needs to me more effective and more efficient to get to 200 innings pitched.  He just needs to shake his head yes when Russell Martin puts down the sign for the pitch he is throwing.

Here is why:  Hitters beat Hutchison up on counts where he should have had an advantage.  On 0-1 counts the opposition hit .348 and on 1-1 counts they hit .343.  Martin needs to get him to be more aggressive and to have more trust in his secondary stuff when ahead in the count.  That is all about Hutchison’s head and not his arm. 

I was very impressed by the passion that Hutchison has for this season.  I believe this will be the breakout year for him. 

Alex Rodriguez hit his first home run of the spring on Wednesday and received a pretty good reception. How well will he have to play to win over the fan base back home in the Bronx? Could he achieve enough success this season to win over baseball fans across Major League Baseball?

Nothing is impossible.  Oh wait…Nothing is impossible except for A-Rod winning over fans across Major League Baseball.  The reality is that you can’t win back what you never had.  Even in his heyday, Alex Rodriguez was a villain.  He has never been beloved in the game.  The $252 million contract certainly alienated him from the majority of fans.  Plus, Alex has never really had a feel for what fans want from him.  He always seems to answer question in a way that he thinks people want to hear but he is wrong in his calculation. 

So let’s focus on Yankee fans.  Yankees fans never fully embraced Rodriguez. He won the MVP in 2005 with the Yankees but still didn’t get the love that most MVPs would get from the home fans.  The focus became his lack of production in the post-season.  In fact, I broadcasted back-to-back games in New York in 2006 and in the first game Rodriguez homered to win the game.  The crowd went crazy for him: he gave them a curtain call. In the second game, A-Rod struck out in the third inning with the bases loaded and the crowed rained boos down upon him.  This was the same guy that had already won an MVP in pinstripes, hit a walk-off homer the night before and he still got booed for a bad at bat. 

There is a phenomenon among fans that I like to call, “He may be a villain, but he is our villain.”  A-Rod will benefit from this phenomenon this year.  He will get crushed by fans on the road, without a doubt.  At home, he will get a combination of boos and cheers early on, with the advantage going to the cheers.  Once the season begins his relationship will be purely performance-based.  If he stinks, he will get crushed.  If he is pretty good he will get more love than boos.  If Rodriguez is great, he will actually get more appreciation this season than he ever has. Fans love redemption stories and despite the fact that A-Rod has brought all of his problems on himself, he is a sympathetic figure.

The good news is that Rodriguez could get some cheers if he does well.  The bad news is that he has no chance of doing well.  He has lost the elasticity in his body.  His hip surgeries and age have sapped him of his power.  He lacks the quick-twitch muscles to rotate his hips to deliver his bat with any pop.  Sure he homered the other day but it was on an 88 mph fastball.  He doesn’t have the ability to catch up with a good fastball even if he guesses right and cheats to get to it.  Its not a big surprise considering he had pretty much lost his bat speed over 17 months ago prior to his suspension.

So A-Rod may have a moment or two but they will be fleeting.