Unease over Janssen’s injury
While one closer keeps a reduced schedule, Sergio Santos is recovering well and could be part of the solution
Casey Janssen’s mantra through spring training went something like this: “he’s a little behind schedule in his preparation as the Jays closer, but he’s shooting for opening day . . . ”
The Jays accepted this explanation because they essentially have to, and because they have full confidence in Janssen as he recovers from off-season shoulder surgery. Behind the scenes, there is a level of nervousness over Janssen and the closer’s role. There has to be.
Janssen inspired confidence in the coaching staff, and while he was anointed the closer at the opening of spring training, there is no 100 per cent guarantee he will be fully recovered or ready for opening day.
The situation with the closer — which also includes the recovering Sergio Santos — raises uncomfortable but necessary questions: can Janssen repeat his 2012 performance and sparkle once again as the closer? Or will the Jays resort to a 1A and 1B plan with Janssen and Santos, and go with the one who carries the so called hot hand.
The answer appeared clearer the past several days in Dunedin. Santos kept elevating his performances; Janssen kept to his reduced schedule.
While there was no conclusive word from the Jays, the belief was that Santos would indeed emerge as the opening day closer, while Janssen would be given all the time he needed to restore his form.
Prior to that, Janssen was shut down during the first week of March to guard against some minor flare up with his shoulder. Santos, whose 2012 season ended in spring training over a shoulder problem that eventually led to surgery, was also shut down briefly. Santos’ problem was some tightness in his triceps muscle, but he returned, apparently in fine form, and appears to be throwing his full pitch repertoire all out, pain free.
Janssen has also unleashed his fastball during spring, and fastball command is the cornerstone of his attack on hitters. He is working on his breaking pitches, and should have them under control before the end of spring training.
If they are fully healthy and up to form, Janssen and Santos could remind Jays fans of Henke-Ward from the 1992 World Series team. That’s the sunny day scenario.
But bullpens are often a fluid dynamic of a pitching staff. With six or seven pitchers in specialist’s roles, it’s the single largest segment of the team, and it’s a constant worry for pitching coaches, managers, and general managers.
A generality in baseball sees hitters well ahead of pitchers coming out of spring training. The pitchers — starters in particular — catch up by late May, but closers have no such luxury. Their world is a oneinning pressure cooker of 12-15 pitches maximum — and they have to be prepared mentally and physically from the outset of the season.
After a memorable and franchise changing off-season, GM Alex Anthopoulos had the pieces to a solid bullpen in place — but he can’t predict injuries or how, in this case, his two main closer candidates respond to their respective injury set backs.
There is only confidence up front and the quiet hope in private, that the club’s two closers — both very solid major league citizens — will deliver when the curtain raises on a season overloaded with expectations from its fan base.
“In years past I’d come out and try to be really really good from the first pitch I threw at spring training,” Janssen said. “Now, with a track record behind me, and a coaching staff that knows what I can do, it’s more of being ready to peak in April and carrying it through the season.”
Janssen certainly solidified that track record last season when he was asked to fill the closer’s role after Santos was lost for the season. In a high pressure spotlight, with limited experience as the ninth inning guy, Janssen responded with 22 saves. The Jays season came apart at the seams with injuries anyways, but the clutch performance Janssen gave was not lost on the organization.
Manager John Gibbons anointed Janssen as the team’s closer back on the first official reporting day for pitchers and catchers. Gibbons was fully versed with Janssen’s situation from the moment he accepted his post back in mid November. He spoke about Janssen with confidence in spring training. “Yeah, with what he did last year, he did a great job for us, he’s our closer . . . ” Gibbons said. The remainder of the pen appears to be a lock, outside a competition for a long relief role. Beyond the closer, the Jays appear solid, with Darren Oliver, Steve Delabar, and Esmil Rogers, slotted for set up roles (seventh and eighth innings), and spot duty in a key situation, when a strikeout or ground out, or lefty on lefty matchup is needed. While the Jays won’t confirm it, Aaron Loup is likely a lock for the pen as well. The final spot should see Brett Cecil, Jeremy Jeffress, and Brad Lincoln, hunting for the job. Cecil has looked strong so far in spring, but Jeffress owns a 97 mph fastball – a definite weapon for a reliever – and is familiar to Gibbons from their respective tenures with the Kansas City Royals two years ago. Dustin McGowan is a wild card for a pen spot, but he will have to prove over the next two weeks that he can pitch consistently against the constant threat of a recurrence of his career health issues. There is always the what-if scenario — what if neither Janssen or Santos is ready for the closer’s role, or suffer injury setbacks? “We have arms down there, we have guys who can do the job, but we’re not there, we’re not close to that, so I don’t even want to think about it,” Gibbons said, referring to Plan B with his closer role, but mentioning Delabar and Oliver as potential emergency fill-ins. Both Janssen and Santos — as well as the rest of the pen — will at least know they should be used in-role this season. The Jays starting staff, stacked with five No. 1 type arms, should ensure on most nights that the pen will be activated in the sixth inning onwards, which makes it easy to follow the routine of slotting relievers into the roles they are designed to fill. “You think the changes in the off season will take a load off the relievers, keep them rested and not out of position or role, where they get tired,” said Jays bullpen coach Pat Hentgen, touching on a fatigue issue in 2012 that devastated the pen. “You will see a more rested pen I think and doing the things they are supposed to do.” Hentgen himself is as excited as the fans are to see pen fulfill its promise. “Oliver . . . he’s an ice-in-the-veins type of guy,” Hentgen said. “Guys can bounce things off him, he’s a sounding board, a player you can learn things from, see examples of things in the way he handles himself, and the way he works hitters. The thing that’s impressed me about him is the strike zone . . . his command there is off the charts. But it’s also important guys see Mark Buehrle, a control guy who changes speeds. “The big thing for me is keeping them aggressive. . . . that’s the thing I preach most is aggressiveness, get that first guy.”
“Yeah, with what he did last year, he did a great job for us, he’s our closer . . . ” JOHN GIBBONS BLUE JAYS MANAGER SPEAKING ABOUT CASEY JANSSEN