Entering the 2016 season, the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen seemed to be in fairly good shape.
Returning to the club was the hard-throwing closer Roberto Osuna and the criminally underrated lefty Brett Cecil, both of whom helped the club’s bullpen finish 12th in the league with a 3.50 ERA. Toronto wanted to further solidify the pen and appeared to do so after acquiring Drew Storen from the Washington Nationals and swinging a deal to acquire Jesse Chavez from the A’s. On paper, the Blue Jays bullpen was much improved. Unfortunately, just under two month’s into the season, it’s been a total mess.
As the Blue Jays have teetered around .500, two of most expected reliable relievers have badly struggled. Cecil, who is prone to slow starts, lost five consecutive games in April, blowing three saves in the process. The 29-year-old only pitched 10.1 innings in 16 games, saw his WHIP balloon to 1.94, and watched his ERA soar to 5.23 before he was put on the DL with a muscle strain.
TORONTO, CANADA – MAY 8: Drew Storen #45 of the Toronto Blue Jays exits the game as he is relieved in the eighth inning during MLB game action against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 8, 2016 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
Storen meanwhile has been a complete disappointment. While the cost to acquire him was small (Ben Revere), the 28-year-old righty was expected to play a big role as set-up man role with the team and form a terrorizing seven, eight, nine combination with Cecil and Osuna. Storen’s velocity has dipped and he’s become more of a liability than a helpful arm for the Blue Jays. In 18 games, Storen has been hit hard with 13 earned runs against, a 1.73 WHIP, and a 7.80 ERA. He’s been so bad in fact, Toronto has reportedly made him available on the trade market.
Watching the Yankees roll out Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances, and Aroldis Chapman has been painful in comparison to what the Blue Jays have gotten from their setup men.
The Blue Jays should thank their lucky stars Osuna has been dominant. The 21-year-old has locked down nine saves in 10 attempts while posting a dazzling 1.40 ERA and 0.83 WHIP. He’s been the force that’s held the struggling bullpen together. Gavin Floyd and Rule 5 pick Joe Bigiani have also been great. Chavez has also been OK, but the rest of the bullpen is essentially no-name brand baseball players.
https://twitter.com/ScottyMacThinks/status/734484791127642113
Chad Girodo, Pat Venditte, Arnold Leon, Dustin Antolin, and Ryan Tepera have all made appearances to mixed results. At the end of the day, it’s fine to have one of those guys in your bullpen, but the Blue Jays have already rotated through them and the season has barely begun. None of them should be used in high-leverage situations and with Storen and Cecil struggling, it’s forcing John Gibbons to get creative.
#BlueJays President/CEO Shapiro on @FAN590 Re The bullpen: "We've got three guys pitching in the back end. Maybe not the three we expected."
— Travis MacKenzie (@TAMacKenzie) May 20, 2016
Thankfully for the Blue Jays, the rotation has been dynamite early in the season, as starters have pitched deep into games on the regular. Blue Jays relievers have pitched in 116.1 innings, which is the 2nd fewest in the entire league. That run might not last forever. It’s a big concern if the starters run out of gas since Toronto’s bullpen isn’t exactly capable of keeping a lead. Blue Jays relievers have already blown seven saves and are second in MLB with 13 losses. That’s not going to cut in the AL East.
There’s no immediate solution to fixing the bullpen other than hope Storen improves and one of the off-brand relievers finds a groove and surprises like Biagini has. A move might need to be made to address the struggles. If the Blue Jays want to return to the playoffs, the bullpen is going to need to be much, much better.
