Bullpen just fine for young starters

Is there any concern with changing Thomas Hatch, Anthony Kay and Ryan Borucki from starters to relievers and back to starters? The Jays went through a lot of stress in 2017 with Joe Biagini, constantly having to send him down to Buffalo to convert him to starter then reliever and back. — Anne, Ottawa A lot of starters used to break into the league as relievers. Jimmy Key, David Wells, Pat Hentgen, Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman are a few examples from the Blue Jays. But the practice hearkens back to an era when pitchers didn’t throw as hard and teams didn’t know as much about arm injuries as they do now.

I still believe the previous regime did Sanchez a disservice by using him as a reliever. He couldn’t develop a reliable third pitch, innings became a concern, and his routines were constantly changing. The current situation is much different. If these guys weren’t pitching out of the bullpen, they’d be stuck in Rochester working in simulated games. Workloads and innings are a concern for everyone this year, so I’m all for the Jays getting the young trio innings in relief if they are allowed to start again in 2021. It seems to me Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is having a tough time catching up to plus fastballs, say 95-plus m.p.h. I mean even if he was sitting “dead red,” Vladdy would still be late. Thoughts? — Mike, Cambridge You’re not wrong about the fastballs. Guerrero is batting just .267 with a .333 slugging percentage off heaters this year and those numbers looked a lot worse before he picked up seven hits over his last six games entering play Tuesday night. But he has struggled even more on other pitch types. The good news is this doesn’t have anything to do with a lack of bat speed. Guerrero is making hard contact, he’s just driving the ball into the ground. The 21-year-old’s lower half appears to be out of whack, and he’s admitted to working on balance with hitting coach Guillermo Martinez. His mechanics can be rectified over time. How much leeway will Travis Shaw be given to produce? Do you see him losing time to Brandon Drury or Joe Panik if he continues to struggle? — Eric, Toronto Shaw entered play on Tuesday having appeared in just six games; I wouldn’t be pulling the plug this early. The veteran was a low-risk, high-reward signing and he deserves some time to figure things out, especially because he’s not blocking anyone of note. How do you feel about the progression of Jordan Romano and do you see him getting even more velocity on his fastball? — @straightboooli1 What’s not to love about the way Romano has been pitching? He entered play on Tuesday having not allowed a hit while striking out 10 over seven innings. I called Romano the closer of the future last year, and my stance isn’t about to change. As for the velocity, his four-seamer is up approximately two m.p.h. this year to an average of 96.4. It might creep up a little bit more but what you see is probably what you get. In this case, that’s perfectly fine.