Stroman on relationship with Sanchez: We're not as close, but still friends

Strochez no more?

Toronto Blue Jays starters Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez's well-known friendship seems to have hit a snag, following weeks of speculation that the two were dealing with a possible feud.

"We're still friends," Stroman said, according to Sean Fitz-Gerald of the Athletic. "We're not as close, but we're still friends."

"We're not as close, we're not as close. Obviously, we go our separate ways. We're around different people. But we're still friends, we're still friends. Just because we're not together every single second of the day, people, like, lose their mind."

Speculation of a quarrel between the two began when a Reddit user did a little investigating and came to the conclusion that Stroman and Sanchez no longer followed each other on social media, including Twitter and Instagram. The once-inseparable duo were no longer together during training sessions, as Stroman was seen preparing for next season by himself after the two spent all of last offseason gearing up for 2016.

"It's crazy. It's crazy to see. The speculation needs to stop. Honestly, it's just social media craze phase. That would never happen 10 years ago. You'd never even see that debate," he said.

"I know everyone's speculating here and there. We're still good."

While it's unclear what might have caused a rift between the two starters, Stroman and Sanchez are likely to be together for the foreseeable future in Toronto as both pitchers are under team control until 2021, with Stroman currently in his first year of arbitration.