Blue Jays option Chad Jenkins, Bo Schultz to Buffalo Bisons

The shuttle between the Buffalo Bisons and the Toronto Blue Jays gets an early start this year, as the Blue Jays have optioned reliever Chad Jenkins to Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday. Also joining Jenkins with the Bisons will be fellow right-hander Bo Schultz, according to Barry Davis of Sportsnet (via Twitter).

It’s an unfortunate decision for Jenkins, who had appeared to have done enough in 2014 to have secured a role in the Blue Jays bullpen for this season. For the second straight year, Jenkins was railed back and forth between Toronto and Buffalo, and for the second straight season, he came through for the Blue Jays where they needed him, as shown in the stats below.

As Justin Jay put it to me moments ago, Jenkins had shown enough last season to make it his job to lose in Spring Training. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened, as the sinker-baller had trouble keeping the ball in the park in Florida. In 6.2 innings of work, Jenkins has surrendered 8 runs on 12 hits (2 home runs), and a pair of walks. On the plus side, he’s also fanned 7 batters on the spring, but given the net results and his track record with strike-outs, the Blue Jays just didn’t see enough from Jenkins to bring him north with the team to start the season. Considering his opponent quality index (Baseball Reference) of 7.6 put his spring competition between Double-A and Triple-A quality, the writing was on the wall.

On the hand, you have Bo Schultz, who has pitched beautifully this spring. The 29-year-old has allowed just 1 hit in 8 innings of work this spring and had yet to allow any earned runs. However, he also has just 2 strike-outs and his GB/FB ratio is 1.10, an indication perhaps that his stuff may not work so well in the fly-ball friendly Rogers Centre.

In truth, with both men having one last option year available, the Blue Jays saw it fit to stash them both in Triple-A and will call upon them should the need arise. With the emergence of other relief candidates in Miguel Castro, Roberto Osuna, Colt Hynes, and Steve Delabar finding his groove again. The options made the two expendable at this point in the spring, and the Blue Jays are seeking to make the bullpen a bit clearer with camp coming to a close in a few days.

Next: Could ankle injury cost Marco Estrada the final spot in the rotation?

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