2013 Toronto Blue Jays Reviews: Todd Redmond

Sep 19, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Todd Redmond (58) throws a pitch during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre. Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Name: Todd Redmond

Position(s): Right-handed Starting/Relief Pitcher

Stats:

*162 Game Avg. is his career average based on a full 162-game season.

2013 Expectation

As with many of the names that the Toronto Blue Jays found filling the back-end of their rotation this year, there weren’t many expectations for Todd Redmond in 2013. He was selected off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles in March and started the year in the minors pitching for the Buffalo Bisons. He started only one game last year for the Cleveland Indians and it did not go well – he allowed 7 hits, 5 walks and 4 earned runs in only 3.1 innings. I think it’s safe to say that most people didn’t expect the 28-year-old Redmond to play much for the Blue Jays.

2013 Reality

Despite the meager expectations, Redmond was surprisingly effective for the Blue Jays this year. Before he was promoted he started five games for the Bisons and in 26.2 innings struck out 9.8 batters per nine while walking only 1.7. In Toronto he was fairly consistent until he was shelled his last start giving up five runs and managing just one out in the closing game of the season against the win-or-go-home Tampa Bay Rays. His ERA was 3.77 before that start but finished the year at 4.32. He struck out 23.5% of the batters he faced and walked only 7.1%, which led to a respectable 4.40 FIP and 4.16 xFIP. He stranded slightly more batters than league average at 75.5% and maybe was a bit lucky since he’s not exactly a ground ball pitcher with a fly ball rate of 50.5%. He’s not a flame-thrower and despite the high strikeout rate he throws his fastball right around 90 MPH. In seventeen games (14 starts) or about half a season he had a 0.6 rWAR and 0.8 fWAR, which means he was maybe worth an extra win or maybe two compared to your average replacement level starter.

2014 Outlook

Redmond is under the Toronto Blue Jays control until 2019, which is the first year he will be eligible to become a free agent. He was drafted in the 39th round of the 2004 MLB Draft so the fact he even made it to the big leagues is an accomplish in itself. His audition in Toronto went well and I’m sure that other teams took notice of this potentially hidden gem north of the border. The Blue Jays already have a ton of arms that could potentially fill the back-end but you know what they say about pitching – you can never have too much of it. I would have a lot more confidence in Redmond taking the hill in 2014 than I would in say Ricky Romero or Ramon Ortiz. It’s unfortunate that Redmond had such a poor outing to finish the season but it shouldn’t put a damper on the fact that he’s put himself in a position to compete for a roster spot (maybe even in the rotation) in 2014.

All stats are courtesy of FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference.com.