Hello, and welcome to the 30th episode of Donkey Cuts. If this happens to be your first time stepping in the box, expect a new type of spin on my baseballs. I break down every and anything to do with the Toronto Blue Jays and for today’s piece, we dive into the relationship between Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez.

As the two stud pitchers came up through the Blue Jays system, the bromance of “StroChez” began with them working out together as the duo bonded during their copious amounts of time together in Dunedin. The friendship on the field turned into becoming buddies off the field, as workouts then became trips in the offseason, and meshing together a group of friends. According to this video from a few years ago, the two just loved to goof around any time they got the chance.

Unfortunately for Stroman and Sanchez and the rest of the Blue Jays roster, this friendship was shattered two seasons ago. We mentioned at the time here at DeanBlundell.com, “there was something there” as they couldn’t even be in the same room together. From un-following each other on social media, to never been seen together on or off the field, to the smallest of petty like not even standing at the top of the dugout to congratulate each other, the beef between Stroman and Sanchez became a huge distraction for the ball club. Not anymore, as 2019 has been nothing but love.

It appears coming into Charlie Montoyo’s first season as the club’s manager, the management team suggested he zone in on ways he could get the two Blue Jay starters to kiss and make up, so they can not only lead the rotation but set an example for the young kids on what it’s like to build camaraderie in the clubhouse. Who knows what exactly Shapiro and Atkins said to Montoyo, however, whatever it was, the results of Montoyo’s strategy appear to be working.

These conversations have now resulted in having the other starters watch you warm up in the bullpen, and walking to the dugout together to display how everyone has each other’s back.

“You’re not just facing one of us, you’re facing all of us.” –@MattShoe52 pic.twitter.com/wXLPskN1M7

— Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) March 31, 2019

Now you can be sure to see one at the top of the dugout to congratulate the other, after a strong inning or gutsy performance. It’s the little things that will go a long way in getting this relationship back to where it once was. Will they ever be best friends again? Who knows, and what does it matter, but they certainly need to have each other’s back on the field, or this team has no chance. The two ‘Aces’ recently met the media and had this to say about their friendship:

“There are things that happened and we’re kind of moving forward from it. I’m extremely happy about it, we’re growing…People don’t realize that kind of thing happens in life sometimes, it’s heading in the right direction. Regardless of where it was, I know we weren’t as close as we were in the past but I always wanted what was best for him” – Marcus Stroman

When asked about his relationship with Marcus Stroman after his dominant start vs the Tigers on Saturday, Aaron Sanchez was quoted saying “it’s all good”

“It was only a matter of time as far as we were concerned that they (would change.). They cared deeply about each other and they will continue to.” – Ross Atkins

It appears it’s only taken 3 games of Charlie Montoyo’s tenure to squash the beef that’s followed the team around like a bad odour for 324 games. Stroman and Sanchez are now talking to each other more, they are talking to the media about each other more, and it appears they both have come to realize if the Toronto Blue Jays want any chance of sneaking into the wild card game this season, both of them need to limit the distractions and go out and battle for one another. “StroChez” isn’t back quite yet, but 6 and 41 are ‘teammates’ again, which is a great sign for Blue Jay fans.

That’s it from me, thanks for stopping by, see you around the cage for episode 31.