Today marks Pat Hentgen’s 58th birthday.
Pat will always remain one of my favorite Blue Jays.
He won the Cy Young Award in 1996—the first Blue Jay ever to do so—after going 20-10 with a 3.22 ERA and pitching an impressive 265.2 innings. Hentgen received the award on his birthday, making for a memorable celebration. It would be incredible to see a starter log over 250 innings these days. He was also selected to four All-Star teams and owns two World Series rings. Although he didn’t pitch in the 1992
playoffs, he earned a win in the 1993 World Series against the Phillies and was set to start Game 7 before Joe Carter’s walk-off home run in Game 6 clinched the title.
During his ten seasons as a Blue Jay, Hentgen compiled a 107-85 record with a 4.28 ERA over 270 games, including 238 starts.
He ranks fourth among pitchers in franchise history in WAR (26.7), and sits fifth in wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, and games started.
After the 1999 season, the Jays traded Hentgen and Paul Spoljaric to the Cardinals for Alberto Castillo, Matt DeWitt, and Lance Painter. It wasn’t one of the team’s better trades. Following a single season in St. Louis, Hentgen signed with the Orioles as a free agent. After three years in Baltimore, he returned to Toronto for one final season before retiring.
Over his career, Hentgen went 131-112 with a 4.32 ERA in 344 games (306 starts) and accumulated 33.0 bWAR.
He gave us an interview, which is divided into five parts: one, two, three, four, and five.
Pat has remained involved with the organization, serving as bullpen coach in 2011 before stepping away for family reasons, then returning to the same role in 2013.
A few years ago, he spent some time in the TV broadcast booth and did an excellent job. It would be great to see him take on that role more often.
Happy birthday, Pat. Hope it’s a great one.
Today also marks Santiago Espinal’s 32nd birthday.
Espinal spent four seasons with the Blue Jays and had an excellent 2021, hitting .311/.376/.405. He made the All-Star team the following year, and by mid-June was batting .298/.350/.451. Unfortunately, his performance declined after that, as he hit just .244/.301/.300 for the remainder of the season. 2023 was a tough year, and with the team’s surplus of middle infielders, Espinal was traded before the 2024 season. He batted .246/.295/.356 with the Reds in 2024.
Happy birthday, Santiago. Hope it’s a great one.
