Dein erstes Forum » TSN.ca sat down with Rizzo, the injured Cubs first

TORONTO - There shouldnt have been any lingering doubt. If there was, Jose Bautista put it to rest on Monday night. He should be considered among the Blue Jays all-time greats and, one day, his name will be unveiled along the fourth deck façade as part of the Level of Excellence. Bautistas three-run home run in the fifth inning of an 8-0 win over the Cubs was his 200th as a Blue Jay, putting him into elite company. He joins Carlos Delgado (336), Vernon Wells (223), Joe Carter (203) and George Bell (202) as one of five Blue Jays in the franchises 200-home run club. "Its obviously a great personal accolade," said Bautista. "I wasnt aware of it but somebody told me and came up to me today. Im very proud and honoured to have done it here, just really happy but I think Im going to enjoy this one, again like I always say with personal goals, more in the offseason. We have a bigger goal that were focusing on right now and thats trying to make the playoffs." Mondays home run was Bautistas 32nd of the season and his eighth in the last 12 games. Bautista hit his 200th Blue Jays home run in his 791st game with the club, 55 quicker than the next fastest, Delgado. STROMANS SINKER Marcus Stroman notched his first career major league shutout in Monday nights 8-0 win over the Cubs. He needed only 93 pitches and he recorded a career-high 14 groundball outs, including one double play. Stroman faced two batters over the minimum. His sinker, developed since he arrived in the major leagues, gets the credit. "It allows me to go deep into games," said Stroman. "I used to be a high-pitch guy. Five innings, six innings, a ton of pitches and high punch outs and now I feel like Im really learning how to pitch. Using that pitch Im able to go deeper, keep the ball on the ground. Im able to get double plays when I need them and I feel like Im just really starting to learn how to pitch." Stroman was lying in bed, a baseball in hand, when he came across the grip. It felt comfortable and so he took it into a bullpen session. It wasnt long before he was using his sinker in game action. He points to his July 19 start versus Texas, a 4-1 Blue Jays win in which he went seven shutout innings, as the turning point. "That just shows you what hes all about," said manager John Gibbons before the game. "Hes got some aptitude. Hes an athlete. Hes got a feel of what hes doing … Thats what the good ones are able to do. The guys that struggle, sometimes it takes them a little bit longer to figure things out." CHATTING WITH RIZZO The Chicago Cubs are a team in transition. When Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer were hired during the offseason of 2011-2012, they set out to strip the franchise bare and rebuild it. The plan is taking shape. The next step: execution. Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro have been joined by top prospects Javier Baez, Jorge Soler and Arismendy Alcantara. Kris Bryant and Addison Russell, the latter acquired from Oakland in the Jeff Samardzija trade, did not receive September call ups but arent far behind. The Cubs have one of the best crop of prospects if not in history, than certainly in recent memory. TSN.ca sat down with Rizzo, the injured Cubs first baseman. Hes hit career highs with 30 home runs and an OPS of .889 in 2014. Still only 24 years old, hes signed long-term and figures to be at the core of the expected turnaround. Heres the conversation: TSN.ca: Is there a sense of excitement about how close you guys may be to turning that corner? RIZZO: Yeah, absolutely. Obviously we dont want to say we think weve turned it but its just about guys developing here, going through their highs and lows and going into the offseason feeling really good about themselves and what they have to work on and going into spring training really with the attitude of winning our division and taking care of business. TSN.ca: What are your initial impressions, I dont want to call you one of the veterans, of some of the younger players? A kid like Soler? And Baez? RIZZO: Theyve been great. The most you from them is to come in and work and thats what they do. They dont really come in and mess around. They come in, do their work and take care of their business. Thats the best thing you can do as a young player and Im still young, I do that, but the best thing you can do is take care of your business and play hard. Thats how you earn the respect of your teammates and theyve done exactly that. All the guys that have come up have done that. TSN.ca: On a lot of teams youd be a younger player but you have some tenure here. Is your role on this team different than it would be in a lot of other cities just because it is such a young group? Are you more of a leader already than maybe you would have anticipated? RIZZO: I dont know. This is where I am. On other teams I dont know how its been. I just know here we have a good bunch of guys here, a good group. I just go out and play. Play hard and try to produce as best I can and prepare to be the best I can that day and whether I do well or dont do well I try to come in and be the same guy in the clubhouse and set the example, set the bar high for everyone else. TSN.ca: Shortly after the Samardzija trade, you told me in July you could see the plan falling into place. Thats still the case? RIZZO: Its been really nice in having Javy (Baez) come up and Soler come up. Mendy (Alcantara), (Kyle) Hendricks and all the guys. You hear about people talk about so much this, this, this and now that its here its about them getting their feet wet with the expectation of next year doing some damage in this league. TSN.ca: Is your pitching underrated. Everybody says youve got a bunch of positional talent, wheres the pitching? If you look at your team ERA I think over the last four or five weeks, especially, its been really strong. RIZZO: Yeah, our bullpen has really come along, in my opinion. Theres no guy in our bullpen that comes and were kind of worried about giving up a lead. Thats always comforting, knowing a starter can go six or seven and then get it to the bullpen and have them shut it down. As long as we score runs, it doesnt matter whos pitching, we score a couple of runs early for them and let the pitcher get into a little groove, itll take care of itself. TSN.ca: Your first time in Toronto, your first time in Canada. You going to climb the Tower? RIZZO: Well, Im not going to be playing so Im probably definitely explore and probably go up the Tower. Custom Cleveland Indians Jerseys . Phoenix got injured centre Emeka Okafor and a top-12-protected first-round draft pick in 2014 -- giving the rebuilding Suns potentially four choices in the opening round. The Suns also sent guards Kendall Marshall, Shannon Brown and Malcolm Lee to Washington so the deal will work financially. Omar Vizquel Jersey . Winning more at home probably should be on the list. The Flames look to avoid a fifth defeat in six home games by winning a sixth straight meeting with the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night. http://www.indianssale.com/indians-larry-doby-jersey/.Y. - Urijah Faber walked out on a Madison Square Garden stage in a Wes Welker jersey, the UFCs fun nod to that other "super" show this weekend. Ricky Vaughn Jersey . Gonzalez participated in his final game on Sunday, Atlantas 21-20 defeat at the hands of the NFC South champion Carolina Panthers, having posted four catches for 46 yards. Eddie Robinson Jersey . on the 15-day disabled Monday list because of a strained right hamstring.COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- Marvin Chavez scored two goals against his former team and Chivas USA ended an eight-game winless streak with a 3-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids on Sunday. Erick Torres opened the scoring with his eighth goal of the season in the 56th minute for Chivas, which had gone 0-5-3 since beating the Chicago Fire in its season opener. Torres header beat goalkeeper Clint Irwin after Chivas didnt put a shot on goal in the first half. Chavez, who made two appearances for Colorado last season, broke free on a breakaway to beat Irwin in the 67th minute and again off a cross in the 76th minute..dddddddddddd "I liked that team very much and they always treated me very well," Chavez said. "I am a professional and just do my job." Deshorn Brown scored in stoppage time for Colorado, the Rapids third goal in five games. The Rapids were without leading scorer Vicente Sanchez. who missed a second straight game with a sprained left knee. "We obviously had problems in the back of our defence that we need to address," Colorado coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "They lulled us to sleep, they waited for their opportunities and took full advantage of them." ' ' '