Hawkins is ready for big role down the stretch
Thrust into a bullpen laden with young flame-throwers, LaTroy Hawkins did not expect to work as a closer again.
But on Wednesday afternoon, Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker told him to be ready for the ninth inning if a save opportunity arose. The Jays wanted to rest closer Roberto Osuna. The other likely candidate, Aaron Sanchez, was serving a suspension.
So the team’s old man at 42, pitching in his 21st big-league season, got the call.
Hawkins soldiered his way through a rocky ninth to preserve a 9-7 win over Minnesota and, in the process, became only the 13th pitcher to record a save against all 30 major-league teams.
The last out came with runners on second and third. Brian Dozier hit a hard liner that Ben Revere caught, head-high, in left field.
“You bend a little bit and try not to break,” Hawkins said. “I got Dozier to hit the ball right at Ben. Hey, I’ll take it.”
Given the makeup of the Jays’ bullpen, he didn’t figure to complete the circle of saves against Minnesota, the team that drafted him in 1991. Another new Jay, Mark Lowe, told him this series offered him his last chance, since he plans to retire after the season and the Jays don’t play the Twins again this season.
“I had never thought about it until (Tuesday),” he said. “Lowe said something to me about it, making a joke in the bullpen. I’m like, ‘Really? Well, I probably won’t have a chance to get that.’ And then when (Walker) told me I had a chance, that I was closing tonight, I’m like, ‘Oh, OK, cool.’ And the game started to unfold, opportunity presented itself.”
Hawkins, who came to the Jays with Troy Tulowitzki in last week’s trade with the Rockies, has pitched for 11 teams and posted saves for eight of them. He didn’t record his first save until he was 27. He has been a closer of necessity at times, but more often has pitched in the earlier innings.
Last year he saved 23 games for Colorado. Since the trade, he has appeared in four games for the Jays, allowing no runs. His ERA this year is 3.20. His fastball still averages 93 miles per hour.
On Wednesday, he was the last of four relievers, following Liam Hendriks, Brett Cecil and Lowe, who worked a scoreless inning apiece behind Drew Hutchison, who had three fine innings between two bad ones.
In the big trades for Tulowitzki and David Price, “Lowe and Hawkins kind of snuck in under the radar a little bit,” manager John Gibbons said.
“But there was a little bit of a plan behind that,” he added. “We wanted to beef up that bullpen a little bit. They’ve both had great years. Lowe’s been dominating all year. Hawk’s been Mr. Reliable for 20plus years now. That was big. That gives us a little more of a comfort zone when you get some veteran guys out there.”
On June 1, the bullpen’s 3.87 ERA ranked 13th in the American League. Since then, it has improved to 3.35, good for sixth.
Hawkins, who has 127 saves in his career, said he and Lowe are ready for anything.
“I think it helps when you have a deep bullpen,” he said. “You can put guys in different situations that they’ve actually done before and not put them in situations where everything is going to be new to them. I’ve pitched in every inning before and Lowe’s done the same thing. So I think it’s a manager’s dream when you’ve got a deep bullpen because you’ve got options.”
Gibbons said from the start that he planned to use Hawkins in a late-inning role. His save followed Tuesday night’s shutdown by Osuna, who is less than half Hawkins’ age.
Hawkins said Walker and bullpen coach Dane Johnson keep every reliever up to date on his role for the next game. There are no surprises.
“We always know exactly when we’re coming in,” he said. “They communicate very well with us. That’s never a problem. It doesn’t make any difference. I’ve pitched all over and once the sixth inning (begins), I’m mentally locked in, and all the other guys down there are starting to lock in too.”
Hawkins became the oldest Blue Jay to record a save. Darren Oliver was 41 when he saved two games in 2012.