Backbone of bullpen ready for rotation
Jays’ Tepera thinks he has what it takes to become a starter
In August 2015, the Toronto 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.
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 and Toronto the last two seasons. More and more he has proven to be a late-inning reliever with a 95 m.p.h. 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. He owns a 37.5 per cent strikeout rate against the heart of the order, ranking him ninth of 116 qualified relievers.
The Houston native said he wouldn’t mind switching to a starting role next year, which makes some sense. Both Marco Estrada and Francisco Liriano come off the books after this season and there are no guarantees either will be back.
“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,” Tepera said. “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. It’s still in my back pocket.”
Meanwhile, the Jays returned to the win column on Sunday. Home runs by Justin Smoak and Josh Donaldson lifted the club to a 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees to split their four-game series.
Toronto’s Marcus Stroman and the Yankees’ Luis Severino both pitched well, giving up two runs over six and seven innings, respectively.
In the bottom of the eighth with the score tied 2-2, Donaldson hammered a Tyler Clippard offering over the wall in right, his sixth of the season.
Joe Smith pitched a perfect eighth, striking out two, to pick up the win. Jays closer Roberto Osuna struck out the side to record his 13th save in the ninth.
The Jays begin a six-game West Coast swing starting against the Oakland Athletics on Monday.