Blue Jays: Reviewing Every Reliever After the First Month

It’s been an interesting month for the Blue Jays. After an unprecedentedly hot start, the team cooled down quite a bit, dropping three straight series to finish off the month of April. Still, one of the bright spots has been the incredible reliability of the bullpen.

The numbers speak for themselves. The Blue Jays bullpen is currently one of the best in baseball. After hustling out of the gate, the pen stumbled a bit, but still managed to finish off the first month in impressive fashion.

After it’s all said and done, the pen has just three blown saves, HAS two relief losses, and has only allowed 30% of inherited runners to score. They’ve pitched an average of 16 pitches per relief outing and have held onto leads with almost ridiculous effectiveness.

The incredible success of the bullpen becomes even more important when you consider the struggles of the starting five. Through the first month, the Blue Jays starters have earned quality starts in 35% of their outings, pitching an average of just over five innings per start, and sport a combined record of 8-10. Not ideal.

Luckily, the pen has come together quite nicely and has seen some unlikely faces come to the forefront. With a variety of hurlers making appearances at different points in the game, the bullpen appears both sustainable and consistent.

As the first month comes to a close, and as the honeymoon period of this young baseball season quickly expires, let us take a look at each member of the Blue Jays bullpen and evaluate their performances based on their stats so far. After each pitcher, a grade will be assigned, with A+ being the best, and F being the worst.

Please note that all statistics referenced in this article are taken as of the start of the game on Monday, April 30th, 2018 against the Minnesota Twins.