Blue Jays: Is Osuna’s Velocity Dip a Concern: Optimist, Pessimist, Realist

For the upcoming season, Jays Journal will be introducing a new weekly series where contributors take a look at the latest Blue Jays rumor or news piece from the viewpoint of an optimist, a pessimist, and a realist. There are three sides to every argument; comment below to share which view you agree with the most for each article.

The topic for this week’s article is Osuna’s spring training struggles, and more specifically, the young closer’s dip in velocity. Roberto Osuna‘s troubles appeared to start in the World Baseball Classic while pitching for his home country of Mexico.

In two brief appearances, the Blue Jays’ closer pitched 0.2 innings while allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 4 hits and 2 walks, adding up to a grotesque 54.00 ERA for the tournament.

Pete Walker and the rest of the Blue Jays staff seemed to dismiss the rough showings as merely an anomalous result, one that should be forgotten and moved forward with. After watching video replay of Osuna’s horrendous ninth inning against Italy, Pete Walker stated that he found nothing wrong with Osuna’s mechanics or the pitches themselves.

Osuna returned to the Blue Jays’ spring training facilities in Dunedin soon after Mexico was eliminated in the first round of the WBC, and suffered from neck stiffness due to a “bad mattress”. Since his return to the mound, Osuna has had mixed results.

The more concerning fact other than spring training numbers is the Mexican closer’s velocity. Usually operating in the mid to high nineties in peak form, Osuna struggled to throw even 95 mph in his spring appearances thus far, operating at around 93-94 mph.

Should this 2-3 mph drop be a cause for concern, or is Osuna just taking it slowly before the regular season?