Top 10 Blue Jays Relievers of All Time

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Credit: Shaw/Getty

Scott Downs was drafted and signed by the Cubs in 1997. His path to become a consistent major leaguer was not an easy one. He was traded to the Twins in 1998 and then reacquired by the Cubs in 1999. He made his debut in 2000 but again was traded later that season to Montreal. He missed all of 2001 to injury and struggled in the minors the 2002/2003 seasons. 2004, at age 28, saw him split time between the Expos and the minors. After being released, Downs signed as a free agent with the Blue Jays. It was Toronto where Downs’ career really got going. Up until Toronto, Downs had only been a starter but the Jays gave him a look as a reliever in 2005. After some experimentation, Downs was fully transitioned to a reliever and made his last career start in 2006.

In total he spent 6 years in Toronto and appeared in 329 games. He was mainly used in a 7th or 8th inning role but was occasionally called in to serve as closer. He had a 2.59 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 7.54 K/9, 3.09 BB/9, a 0.67 HR/9 and a gmLi of 1.37 in his Toronto career as a reliever. Downs was a groundball pitcher who mainly threw a 90 MPH sinker with a curve (sometimes a slider too). As a lefty, he did fare better against left handed batters but was far from a LOOGY—he faced nearly twice as many righties as lefties in his career.

He ranks 8th in WAR among all Blue Jays relievers, 8th in HR/9, 1st in LOB %, 2nd in ERA, 12th in FIP.

Downs, at 39 years of age, is still active. However he is currently a free agent and hasn’t pitched since last September.