Colt hopes to fly north as a Blue Jay
TORONTO BULLPEN HOPEFUL: At 29, left-handed reliever Hynes is on cusp of another big-league opportunity
DUNEDIN, Fla. — He is named after a 1980s TV character. His spring ERA is 0.00. Except for a technicality, he would be a rookie — at age 29.
But nobody is making a fuss over Colt Hynes, least of all Colt Hynes.
The left-hander’s locker sits in the middle of a row of 13 in the Toronto Blue Jays’ clubhouse. A week ago, all 13 lockers were occupied. Of that group, only three players remain.
And this morning, when manager John Gibbons announces his opening-day roster, Hynes is a good bet to make the cut.
“I really didn’t have any expectations,” he said. “I felt I would come in and do my best to make the team. If I did, great. If I didn’t, I knew I was prepared to perform the best that I could. But as far as expectations, there weren’t really any on my end. I just wanted to be as prepared as possible.”
His spring line: 10 games, 92/3 innings, three hits, no runs, one walk, seven strikeouts.
His timing, like his ERA, was perfect. With left-hander Brett Cecil promoted to closer, the Jays were looking for another lefty reliever.
After eight years in the minors and an unremarkable 22 outings for the San Diego Padres in 2013, Hynes pushed himself into the Jays’ bullpen sweepstakes.
About that unusual name. His father was a fan of The Fall Guy, a TV series that ran from 1981 to 1985. The protagonist, named Colt Seavers, was played by Lee Majors, who had previously achieved popularity as The Six Million Dollar Man.
“My dad just loved the name,” Hynes said. “He always told my mom, if we have a boy, we’re going to name him Colt.”
His mom was less enthusiastic. That’s probably why his first name is Joshua. Colt is his middle name.
“I’ve never gone by anything else, other than when I’ve been in trouble with my mom — then she says ‘Joshua Colt Hynes,’ ” he said with a smile.
While Hynes has only 17 innings of major-league experience, he was on the Padres roster for more than 45 days during 2013 before the September call-up period. That means he does not qualify as a rookie.
Except for that 2013 stint with San Diego, the team that drafted him in the 31st round in 2007, he has spent the past five years in Double-A and Triple-A.
The Jays claimed him off waivers last Aug. 31 and sent him to Triple-A Buffalo, where he posted a 1.08 ERA in seven games.
Hynes has shown excellent command of the strike zone in the minors, striking out 4.6 batters for every walk issued. His minor-league ERA is 3.60. A couple of times over the years, he felt he was very close to a big-league promotion.
Of course, he would love to break camp with the Jays, but he also seems prepared to accept any assignment, wherever it is, as long as he can keep on pitching.
“At times I’ve wondered, ‘What else are you going to do?’ ” he said. “But at the same time, you can’t worry about that stuff. You can’t control it. You can only control what you do on the field and how you prepare yourself. At the end of the day, as long as you’re doing that and you still have a job somewhere, that’s all you can ask for in baseball …
“My job is to pitch. When they tell me to go in the game and pitch, my job is to get outs, regardless of whether it’s with Toronto or Buffalo or wherever.”