Jays’ bullpen has bright future
There have been times for the Blue Jays this month, and indeed over the final three weeks, when the situation calls for a left-handed specialist out of the bullpen.
More often than not, manager John Gibbons strolls to the mound and, instead of five-year veteran southpaw Aaron Loup, he’ll call upon rookie Tim Mayza or fellow rookie Matt Dermody.
He wants to see what they have for 2018.
There is a distinct possibility that next season the Jays could have one of the deepest and most effective bullpens in the AL, even with the highest-paid pitcher being closer Roberto Osuna, who will be arbitration eligible. With his impressive save total — despite his leagueleading 11 blown saves — he could earn around $7 million (U.S.) on a one-year deal. Nobody else will be close to earning that.
From the right side, the Jays will have effective and cost-effective options in Ryan Tepera, Dominic Leone, Danny Barnes and perhaps even Joe Biagini. None of those men have accumulated service time for arbitration. Other potential righties include the impressive Carlos Ramirez, with no earned runs at any level this year, and Luis Santos, who could fill the need for a long relief specialist.
The left side is where the Jays are seriously checking out their options. Loup has been the dean of the bullpen, but if he remained with the Jays, with five-plus years of service time, he would be entering his freeagent year in 2018. Loup would likely earn about $2.5 million, even in arbitration, but if Mayza and Dermody are ready to fill Toronto’s lefty specialist roles, then that could be money saved with Loup.
Recall the Jays last winter believed they would be contenders for a third straight post-season berth, and as such added veteran relief help to contribute in a setup role. They picked up Jason Grilli’s $3-million option and signed lefty J.P. Howell and righty Joe Smith for $3 million each. All three of those pitchers were gone by mid-season, along with the $13-million owed to lefty starter Francisco Liriano for his final season; Liriano was traded to Houston at the deadline.
That’s $22 million the Jays will be able to allocate elsewhere next season, simply from the four departed pitchers.
Gibbons knows the depth of his right-handers, but the emergence of Mayza and Dermody would complete the picture.
“He’s got everything he needs to be a dominating left-handed reliever in the big leagues,” Gibbons said of the 25-year-old Mayza. “There’s a couple of outings he’s been hit around, a little wild. That inflated some things, but I’ve talked to some managers he’s had in the minor leagues. They’ve said that once he feels he belongs, gets comfortable, that’s just his personality. He thrives.
“That’s why I think it’s important we get him innings out there, let him pitch and have some success so he can feel good.”
Mayza’s stats certainly don’t jump off the page. He picked up his first major-league win facing one batter, striking him out on Tuesday. But he has had three shaky outings — one at Wrigley Field, one against the Red Sox and another against the Twins— that have inflated his ERA to 7.94. But he has three walks and 18 strikeouts in 111⁄ innings and that pro
3 vides the wow-factor.
“It’s definitely been up and down,” Mayza said. “There’s a lot more to work on and a lot more that I can improve on the rest of this season and into next season.”
Each time Mayza has struggled, he had immediate feedback from pitching coach Pete Walker and Gibbons. They believe they have something special.
“It’s great that (Gibby) has confidence in me and he’s willing to throw me out there in any situation,” Mayza said. “Him having my back and him having confidence in me is great. Those outings are going to happen. As long as you keep playing you’re going to have outings like that, bad outings. It’s really about how you bounce back from them and how you take them. Are you going to dwell on it or are you going to come in the next day ready to get to work and improve?”
Mayza at spring training this year opened eyes with his performance, but he was just another kid in a sea of kids that fill innings in Grapefruit League play.
“Realistically in the spring it was just about going out there and competing,” the Allentown, Pa., native said. “Going out there with the mentality that I’m here to compete, doing my best. Whatever happens, happens in spring training. But coming out of there I didn’t know how much of a possibility it would be, but I knew I had confidence that I could do it.”
Mayza already knows what he needs to work on this winter and he’s looking forward to it. His expectations in camp will be completely different.
“There’s definitely stuff to work on — the shape and consistency of my slider is something I can improve on,” he said. “You get here and you learn that elevated fastballs are something you can get outs on. I’ve never really tried that area, throwing elevated fastballs, but that’s something I’ll take into consideration in the off-season. Just allaround consistency.”
Now it’s up to Jays president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins to put that money saved from the 2018 no-name bullpen to good use elsewhere.