Lumps on the bump
The Biagini experiment doesn’t seem to be working as losses pile up for right-hander
The numbers, even to an analytics heretic, strongly suggest what Joe Biagini ought to be in his baseball life.
Joe the bullpen guy: 5-4 with an ERA of 3.44 in 991⁄ 3 inches pitched.
Joe the starter: 3-14 with an ERA of 5.97 in 98 innings pitched.
Those were his major-league stats before he took the mound and took another loss, 5-3 against Boston on Sunday, as the Blue Jays dropped their fourth consecutive series and more space opened up between Toronto and the American League leaders.
My sister, my daughter. My sister, my daughter. (“Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown.”)
The brain trust is clearly of two minds when it comes to the existential question: Is Biagini a starter or a reliever?
So back and forth he goes, up and down he goes, in a transition now into its second year.
Recall the halcyon days of 2016 when Biagini was such a strong option and workhorse coming out of the bullpen for manager John Gibbons. Then someone got it into their head that the useful Rule 5 acquisition would look good in the starting rotation.
At this point, one might wonder if Biagini will be given even one more start to convince, with the rotation still in injury flux and, well, rather crummy.
At this point, one might wonder if Biagini would be a better fit restored to the ’pen rather than Buffalo for further adjustment to the starter role, which appears evermore quixotic.
Meanwhile, as Biagini struggled through a fitful third inning yesterday, call-up Deck McGuire was up and loosening in the bullpen. The righthander was up and throwing again later in the game, though he was never summoned to the mound.
Is McGuire — the first draft pick of former GM Alex Anthopoulos, first round 2010, who was subsequently traded and took a meandering road to the majors — a short-term addition to the relief cadre or competing with Biagini for that job?
Don’t ask the skipper for clarification, or if they Jays are committed to giving Biagini another start to make his bones.
“Don’t worry about that now, will ya?” was Gibbons’ response to the latter query.