Starter’s orders: Tepera up for role
In August of 2015, the Blue Jays claimed Rajai Davis off waivers from the Detroit Tigers in the hopes of obtaining the speedy outfielder for their playoff run.
The Jays had two days to work out a trade but Detroit insisted on right- handed pitcher Ryan Tepera going the other way. Tepera, however, was a player the Jays did not want to give up, despite the fact that they really wanted Davis to be a right- handed platoon player. The move, if it had gone through, would have kept speed and defence in left field at all times rather than have Ben Revere playing against lefties. But the deal fell through. Two years later and Tepera, one of the most dependable performers in the Jays’ bullpen now, had no idea of what went down that August. But he’s happy to still be with Toronto.
Tepera, 29, has bounced up and down between Triple A Buffalo the last two seasons but more and more, he has proven to be a lateinning calibre reliever with a 95 mph fastball, as well as a good cutter and sinker. This season Tepera is locating the ball well and has thrown 21 innings without allowing a home run and has a 37.5 per cent strikeout rate against the heart of the opposing team’s order, ranking him ninth of 116 qualified relievers. He has a 3.13 ERA in 31.2 innings.
The Houston native has said often that he would love the chance to be a regular late- inning guy but this week he took that even further suggesting he wouldn’t mind switching to a starting role next year, which actually makes some sense for the Jays.
Both Marco Estrada and Francisco Liriano are free agents after this season and there are no guarantees either will be back. J.A. Happ is signed through 2018 but if the Jays embark on a rebuild, the big lefty might bring some long-range quality back in a trade. Almost certainly, RHP Joe Biagini will be a full-time starter next season, but the Jays will have one or two spots to fill in the rotation. Tepera, who started right into his freshman year at Sam Houston University in Huntsville, Texas, said he’d be more than happy to stretch out in spring training and become another option for the rotation.
“I talked about it with (pitching coach) Pete ( Walker) and Gibby (manager John Gibbons) a little bit when we had a lot of starters go down earlier in the season,” said Tepera. “Now that I know myself a little better mechanically-wise, pitching-wise, I think I could go back to starting. And they think so too.
“It would probably be something we’d have to work on next year in spring training, and I would have to develop the change- up a little better,” he added. “I was throwing it early on this spring and it was actually pretty good. I had a good feel for it although lately I’ve just been going with the bread and butter ( fastball, sinker) and not even worrying about (the change-up). But it’s still in my back pocket.”
Tepera always thought his future as a pro would be as a starter but he ran into some roadblocks during his freshman year at Sam Houston State University in the form of two serious staph infections, the first in his right foot just before the start of the season and another in his right knee. Not only did they put a damper on his year, he was worried they might derail his career, or worse.
“It was definitely scary,” he said. “I had to spend time in the hospital both times. People lose their arms and legs from that.”
Because of the injuries, he did not have a great season and his stock fell.
“I had a good sophomore year (in college ball) and then my junior year, I came into the fall semester, scouts were coming in every day watching me throw and I was supposed to be for sure drafted in the top 10 rounds. But once the season started, I had a couple of injuries, especially the staph infection that really messed up my foot. I had to have surgery on it and I was on crutches and missed like three weeks.
“I struggled,” he added. “I just didn’t throw well. I was a Friday night starter for years and I still was a starter up until that point, then I got hurt (again) and they moved me to the bullpen to be a closer because I missed some time.
“Well, all I really cared about was throwing it hard and getting drafted. But I didn’t have a good year; my numbers weren’t good. I pitched terrible. Scouts had stopped calling me. It was the very end of the (2009) season, but we were playing DBU ( Dallas Baptist), my coach told me beforehand that there was going to be a Blue Jays scout there and that I was going to throw an inning for sure. That was the night I got drafted. I think I was sitting at 94-95.”
In 2009, he was driving to Kelowna, B.C., to play summer ball when he got drafted by the Jays in the 19th round.
“The Blue Jays called and said, ‘We’re thinking of taking you, in so and so round, for this much, would you sign?’ And I said, ‘Hell yeah. Let’s do it.’ ” said Tepera. “I was just excited to get drafted.”
The problem was, while he was in Kelowna he didn’t have cellphone service.
“I wasn’t able to talk to the Blue Jays and they didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “Finally one of the Jays scouts got hold of my manager at Sam Houston and said, ‘ What’s the deal with Tepera? We need to know what’s going on. It’s been 2-3 weeks.’ Finally they got a hold of me. It was kind of a crazy deal, but it all worked out.”
Tepera said he signed with the Jays on July 4 of that year and started with the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays and over the years eventually became a reliever. Now he wouldn’t mind switching back to the rotation, and the Jays may go for it. “I think I could stretch out over time. It’s not something that’s going to happen tomorrow. Your arm has to build up,” he said. “But I would like that.”