And Casey Lawrence and Josh Thole
Juan Guzman turns 58 today.
Guzman was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The Dodgers signed him as an amateur free agent in 1985. Pat Gillick traded Mike Sharperson to LA for him, giving Pat an easy win, not that Pat needed more wins in his career.
Although the Blue Jays thought they were getting Jose Offerman in the deal, there was a different opinion, and we got Juan. The Jays used him as a reliever in the minors at first. Guzman points to pitching 1 or 2 innings as part of the reason he had control issues, that it was hard to work on his control in such short outings, and he might have a point there.
The Jays called Juan up to the Majors in early June 1991; the rotation was a mess behind the top three of Stottlemyre, Key, and Wells. Dave Stieb was hurt, and Denis Boucher didn’t pan out and got traded to Cleveland with Glenallen Hill and Mark Whiten for Tom Candiotti and Turner Ward.
Juan started on June 7 and stayed in the rotation for the rest of the season. He was great, going 10-3 with a 2.99 ERA. He had 123 strikeouts in 138.2 innings and gave up too many walks (66) but kept the hitting to a minimum (98). Guzman was equally great against left-handed batters (holding them to a .201 BA) as right-handed batters (.193 BA). He was second in the AL in Rookie of the Year voting to Chuck Knoblauch. Unfortunately, we lost out in the ALCS to the Twins that year in 5 games. Guzman had our only win in game two of the series.
Guzman was in our starting rotation the following year, though he missed most of August with a strained back muscle. Again, he was excellent, with a 16-5 record and a 2.64 ERA in 28 starts. He struck out 165 in 180.2 innings, still giving up too many walks (72), but held opponents to a .207 BA. He was selected to the All-Star team and pitched a shutout inning.
More importantly, in the first of the Jays’ back-to-back World Series wins, Juan won each of his two starts in the ALCS win over Oakland. In the WS, he started game three but didn’t get the decision, giving up only 2 runs in 8 innings of a game that the Jays won at the bottom of the 9th.
In 1993, we won the World Series again, and Juan was a big part of our success. He was 14-3 in 33 starts, with his highest ERA in his career to that point, 3.99. Juan still walked way too many, 110 in 221 innings. He also gave up more hits than he had in the past, giving up a .252 BA, which is still pretty good but not near as good as his first two seasons. The trouble was a drop in effectiveness against left-handed batters who hit .282 against him, while righties hit just .223. He was third in the league in strikeouts and received a Cy Young Award vote. Two other Jay pitchers finished ahead of him in the voting, Duane Ward and Pat Hentgen. Jack McDowell from the White Sox won the award that year. Unfortunately, the writing was on the wall for Guzman’s arm, as he was allowed to throw 120 pitches or more in 12 starts. Cito Gaston was never gentle with young pitchers.
Once again, he won his two starts in the ALCS, this time against the White Sox, but Dave Stewart won the Series MVP for his two wins. Stewart gave up 3 runs in 12.1 innings, and Guzman 3 runs in 12 innings. They each gave up 8 hits, Stewart walked 8, Guzman 9, Stewart struck out 8, and Guzman 9. Juan also made two starts in the World Series, getting a no-decision in a game one win and losing game 5.
Juan was lousy the next two lockout/strike-shortened seasons, with ERAs of 5.68 and 6.32 and a combined 16-25 record. He still walked more than a batter every other inning, but he also gave up more than a hit an inning.
But then, in 1996, he found the touch again, leading the league in ERA at 2.93, winning 11 and losing 8. He cut down on his walks, walking less than a batter every three innings. He also pitched better against lefties (.224 BA).
1997 was an injury-filled season for Juan. He made 13 starts with a 4.95 ERA and a 3-6 record. In 1998, Guzman made 22 starts for the Jays before being traded to Baltimore on July 31 for Nerio Rodriguez and Shannon Carter. We didn’t get much for him, but he didn’t do much for the Orioles before moving him to the Reds on July 31, 1999. Guzman made 12 good starts for the Reds, then signed with the Rays as a free agent before the 2000 season. He made one crappy start for the Rays and wrecked his shoulder. That was the end of his career.
Juan had a 10-year career, finishing 91-79 and a 4.08 ERA. He struck out 7.5 per 9 innings. Juan was wild, walked way too many, and led the league in wild pitches in 1993 with 26 and in 1994 with 13. He was slow, deliberate on the mound, and very poor at holding runners. Juan threw a sinking fastball, rising fastball, slider and curve. Bill Mazeroski said he had “Incredible stuff, and he’s just wild enough for hitters to have that in their minds.”
He also had the fabulous Jheri curl.
Happy Birthday, Juan. I hope you have a good one.
Casey Lawrence turns 37 today.
I admired Casey a lot. He was undrafted, but the Jays signed him after the 2010 draft. He made a slow climb up the minor league ladder, but since they hadn’t invested much money in him, they didn’t limit his innings, and he got a lot of work. As long as the arm holds out, that’s not bad.
He was a guy I watched out for in the minors, and I think we had him at the bad of our top 40 Prospect list a few times, or I put him on my ‘just missed out list’ a few times. But he wasn’t a big prospect at any point.
But, if you keep at it and hang in there long enough, good things might happen.
He made it to the Jays in 2017 (it didn’t go well), and they put him on waivers. The Mariners picked him up. He pitched a few innings with them in 2017 and 2018. The Twins eventually released and signed him before the 2020 season, but he never made the major league team.
The Jays signed him again before the 2021 season, and he pitched 18 innings for them in 2022. The Jays released him in July 2023, and the Cardinals picked him up. He threw 27.1 innings for them in 2023. He pitched for the Mariners’ Triple-A team in 2024, making 29 starts, with an 11-11 record and a 5.95 ERA.
Casey has pitched 124 innings in the majors with a 6.75 ERA. He worked 1341.1 minor league innings to get there.
Happy Birthday, Casey. I hope it is a good one.
Josh Thole turns 38 today.
He played for the Blue Jays for four seasons, appearing in 170 games with a .200/.275/.248 batting line.
You’ll likely remember that he came to us from the Mets along with R.A. Dickey (and Mike Nickeas) for Wilmer Becerra, John Buck, Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard. The trade will not be featured on Alex Anthopoulos’ Hall of Fame plaque.
Happy Birthday, Josh.