Is Toronto Blue Jays’ bullpen their best ever?

TORONTO — It was 1985, the Blue Jays were clinging to pennant hopes and manager Bobby Cox had watched salvation for the umpteenth time emerge from behind his bullpen door.

It was the season that Dennis Lamp went 11-0 in middle relief, Tom Henke arrived as a closer, and Cox, pondering his team’s precarious situation, noted: “I do know a good bullpen makes a manager a lot smarter.”

That being the case, today’s manager, John Gibbons, must rank as the smartest man in baseball.

The Jays’ bullpen has been unworldly. It ranks among the league lead in numerous categories including possibly even, joked Gibbons, saving his skin— not to mention the Jays’ hopes of dragging themselves back into contention in the ragged AL East.

With Toronto’s starting rotation in tatters through much of the season’s first two months, the bullpen piled up more innings than any other major league team. It was overworked. It was abused. It was a revelation. “Saviours. It couldn’t get a whole lot worse. Did they save me? I don’t know,” chuckled Gibbons, this week. “Look. They’ve been tremendous. They’ve been beat up a lot and come back to do a great job.”

It is a crew that has been worked long and hard — like Wednesday night, when Gibbons had Neil Wagner warming in the fifth inning. Starter Mark Buehrle was gone by the sixth.

Once on a pace to throw more than 600 innings — something only two major league bullpens have been asked to do in all of history — the starters have finally begun to go deeper into games.

Good thing, because with 2641/3 innings in the books after 70 games, the Jays’ bullpen is still on course to deliver close to 500 innings.

In most cases, that’s baseball suicide. Except that this bullpen has actually emerged stronger than when the season began.

Stronger than anyone might’ve expected.

It has seen the revival of Brett Cecil. Steve Delabar has been a revelation; a 95 m.p.h. fastball, sparking debate that he might be a stopper in waiting. Meantime, he is tied among AL relievers in strikeouts and has a spiffy 1.75 ERA. Wagner and Juan Perez have been near-untouchables since arriving from Buffalo.

“They’ve been huge,” said Gibbons, of his relievers. “Early on there were times we had to pitch them all just to get through games.

“Then we had the revolving door with guys coming up. We had a tough start. It’s beginning. In essence, it almost helped me a bit to be able to get out there and throw and to have such a great start to the season to put me in the position I am now. It gave me a chance to get off to a good start and that everybody could see that.”

The bullpen, once a strange and foreign place, has become a home.

“I didn’t know what to epxect. I knew I was going to feel better out of the bullpen,” said Cecil.

“I just didn’t know how much better. I figured a lot of things out.”

A lot of that came from sitting next to Janssen and 16-year-veteran Darren Oliver.

“They’re amazing to talk to. Casey really studies the game. I told Casey two weeks ago, ‘Wow, starting is way different than being in the bullpen.’ Since I’ve moved there I’ve learned so much more about hitters.

“In the bullpen you have to be student ofthegameeverypitchbecauseyoumight be facing that guy later in the game.

“As a starter you might be on a threegame series and not even pitch against that team. You’re paying attention but you are not looking for the details that you do as reliever. If you’re in the bullpen you might face the same team twice in a series ... it’s a lot different.”

Cecil’s results have been a lot different as well. Last year he couldn’t get anyone out; now he can’t help but get them out — a stretch of 172/3 scoreless innings. “I’ve learned a ton. It’s been a lot of fun.” Short. Long. In between. Doesn’t matter the outing. Toronto’s bullpen has been near unhittable, not allowing an earned run the past 24 innings and just five earned runs in 17 games since May 31. One of the reasons is that depth. “I would say most bullpens aren’t probably as deep,” said Oliver, “but to have a good bullpen you need a good closer. A good bullpen doesn’t mean a thing unless you’ve got someone to close the door.”

Janssen did that for the 16th time Wednesday to complete a sweep of Colorado. In his last 41 opportunities since becoming Toronto’s closer, he has 38 saves.

“We are putting together a pretty good run out of the ’pen and the season has been going pretty good,” said Delabar.

“But those stats are an accumulation of whatwedidyesterday.Asaplayerwehave to focus on today because that’s all we can do.

“We go one game at a time and then we go on. We can’t predict what’s going to happen.” Actually, it’s been very predictable. When it comes to the bullpen, it’s three up. Three down. Everybody go home.