A deeper bullpen is just the start
There were times last year when it felt like the Blue Jays were struggling to field a complete roster. A glaring lack of depth left the club scouring waiver wires and minor-league free agency pools to fill important roles at the big-league level.
Toronto used 18 starting pitchers in 2019 and most of them were names fans would like to forget. Last season’s staff wasn’t about developing prospects as much as it was about finding warm bodies who would eat up innings. Results were secondary to just being able to take the mound.
Those days are a thing of the past, at least for a while. Names such as Clayton Richard, Edwin Jackson and Clay Buchholz are no longer taking up space. So-called prospects such as Thomas Pannone, Jacob Waguespack and Sean-Reid Foley have been pushed out of starting roles in favour of guys with more upside. Bullpen days, at least so far, have not been required.
The Jays caution against thinking they have depth to spare, but the cupboards appear well stocked. While injuries are never good, Toronto is better equipped to handle them than most teams, which is why they are unlikely to lose sleep over the departure of Trent Thornton, who was placed on the injured list this week with a right elbow injury.
According to manager Charlie Montoyo, Thornton’s ailment is minor, and the 26-year-old’s absence might be limited to a start or two. Even if Thornton’s situation deteriorates, the Jays have the necessary pieces to replace him and anyone else who might go down in the weeks ahead.
Veteran right-hander Chase Anderson will get the first crack at securing a starting role when he gets activated off the IL to make Thornton’s previously scheduled start on Saturday night in Boston. After Anderson, the promising trio of Thomas Hatch, Anthony Kay and Ryan Borucki are waiting in the wings for their shots.
The Jays have options. It’s about picking the right one.
“It’s like you have a chance to win every day, and that’s all you can ask as a manager and a team,” Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said Friday afternoon when asked about his rotation. “That’s how I feel, that’s how we feel, that we have a chance to win every day. That’s great, a big difference from last year.”
In 2019, Jays starters had the ninth-highest ERA (5.25) and the seventh-lowest wins above replacement value at 7.1. Only the Rays and Angels received fewer innings from their rotations than Toronto’s 7111⁄ 3. Montoyo’s occasional tendency to use relievers as openers, instead of prototypical starters, played a role in those rankings, but the numbers were signs of much bigger problems.
There have only been 11 games so far this season, but the results have been much different. Toronto’s rotation sits middle of the pack with a 3.91 ERA, despite a sluggish debut from Hyun-Jin Ryu and a delayed start for top prospect Nate Pearson. The innings still aren’t up to par, ranking 25th, but those numbers should improve as Toronto gets less cautious with its top arms.
Key components to this staff are going to be Hatch, Kay and Borucki. In a normal year, all three would be starting at triple-A Buffalo, where they would continue to develop while keeping their arms stretched out. With no minorleague games to play in because of the coronavirus, the strategy had to change, and the major-league roster became the big benefactor.
Montoyo has the option of eventually sliding one of his young arms into a starting role, or he could instead opt to keep them in the bullpen as multiinning relievers. If Hatch,
Borucki or Hatch are available to pitch part of the fifth and sixth, suddenly five innings or fewer from Anderson, Thornton or anyone else in the rotation doesn’t seem like much of a setback.
“Mentality wise it’s way different for me,” said Borucki, who posted a 3.87 ERA as a starter in his 2018 rookie season. “I’m more of a finesse starter, really try to get ground balls and stuff like that. Now it’s just coming in with my best stuff and whatever is working that day I’m going to go with ... It’s fun. It fits my personality a little bit. I like competing against guys, me against him, just seeing who gets the best of one another.”
Borucki, Kay and Hatch are all very different, but one thing they share is a desire to start. Each hurler has been open about his preference, but there weren’t enough rotation jobs to go around this year at any level. As a result, all three were asked to make short-term compromises for the greater good. So far it has worked out, as the trio entered Friday night having allowed just two runs over 13 relief innings, which equates to a 1.38 ERA.
Toronto developed Jimmy Key and David Wells in the bullpen before allowing them to start. Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez each made their big-league debuts in relief. An unintended consequence of this abbreviated season filled with irregular schedules is that to a certain extent Borucki, Hatch and Kay will follow in their footsteps.
There might not be enough room for the three young arms to start now, but check back in a week and the landscape likely will have changed. And if it doesn’t, that means Montoyo will have all the length he needs, and then some, coming out of the ’pen.