Brett Cecil scratched from pitching assigments due to shoulder issue

The Toronto Blue Jays came into camp with an open competition for their closer role, and Brett Cecil was thought to have the inside track. However, Cecil may have to get a bit of a late start to the race after it was revealed that the left-hander was dealing with some shoulder discomfort in the early days of camp.

According to Sportsnet, Brett Cecil has been dealing with some tenderness in his left shoulder and the Blue Jays opted to skip his scheduled appearance on Friday against the Baltimore Orioles as a precaution. However, the Blue Jays don’t appear to think it is a big issue and feel that Cecil will be able to take his next turn in the schedule.

“His shoulder is a little tender,” said manager John Gibbons. “We don’t think it’s a big deal.” (h/t Shi Davidi, Sportsnet)

That’s good news for Toronto. After spending the entire winter looking to make bullpen additions, the team ultimately came to camp without any major upgrades to the relief corp, aside from Marco Estrada who was acquired for Adam Lind. As the senior member of the bullpen, along with Aaron Loup, Cecil is perhaps the most important late-inning arm for the Blue Jays.

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In two seasons since becoming  full-time reliever, Brett Cecil has been electric out of the bullpen, racking up 126 appearances and 114 innings of work, while posting a stellar 2.76 ERA, a 2.63 FIP, and an 11.9 K/9 ratio. Additionally, Steamer (via FanGraphs) projects that Cecil will post a 28 saves, a 3.03 ERA, and a 10.03 K/9 ratio in 2015.

However, shoulder issues could derail those plans, and if they become a more serious concern, the Blue Jays could be sent into panic mode in the bullpen. Yes, Aaron Sanchez could figure into the closer role, but the reality is that Brett Cecil is still irreplaceable from the current depth charts and the Blue Jays would be forced to shop outside the organization for a replacement.

For now, the feeling is that Cecil’s shoulder is just barking a bit in the raining Florida weather and that all will turn out fine when the team flies north for Opening Day against the Yankees on April 6th. If that happens, the Blue Jays and the fans will breath a collective sigh of relief.

Oh, and did we also mention that Jose Bautista is working through some hamstring tightness? Yup, the fun of spring training is going to give us a heart attack.

Next: Jose Bautista scratched with hamstring tightness