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.

Tim Mayza – Supporting Reliever

Despite only appearing in 1.2 innings, Tim Mayza has reliably been one of the first names to come to mind when an arm is needed in a hurry. A southpaw, Mayza has allowed two hits, striking out two and walking one, appearing in two games.

While it’s not much, it’s nice to know that he’s an option, especially given the lack of left-handed depth in the upper minors. For the rest of the season, Mayza is likely to spend many nights on the Buffalo-Toronto shuttle, being called up in a pinch after a blowout or in the event of a sudden injury. In the near future, Mayza could be called upon as the 26th man during the doubleheader in Cleveland on May 3rd.

According to FanGraphs, Mayza has evenly used his fastball and his slider, getting decent swing and miss action on the slider. He’s also been getting quite a few of his outs via the fly ball, rarely allowing hitters to use the big parts of the ballpark.

Really, there’s not much to say about Mayza. He’s a solid lefty who’ll play a supporting role for the remainder of the season. In Triple-A Buffalo, he will join fellow southpaws Sam Moll and Ryan Borucki as the only lefties on the staff.

As things currently stand, Mayza is a far more attractive option than Moll, who has struggled so far this season, pitching to a 4.70 ERA in 7.2 innings, striking out nine and allowing eight hits.

Grade: B

Aaron Loup – Stable Southpaw

It’s been an up-and-down type season so far for the longest-tenured Blue Jay, Aaron Loup. After faltering out of the gate, he’s settled down, pitching to a 3.48 ERA overall in 10.1 innings, striking out nine and appearing in 11 games. His WHIP stands at a decent 1.35 and he has only walked one batter.

At the start of the season, it was unknown just what role he would play. The sole left-handed hurler in the pen, John Gibbons opted to use him as a situational lefty. The role didn’t suit him so well, as he quickly saw his ERA skyrocket following a pair of short outings in the first series against the Texas Rangers.

Recently though, Loup has been a sort of longman out of the bullpen, pitching in two innings on April 26th against the Sox, holding them hitless and striking out two. At this point, it’s difficult to accurately assess just how reliable he will be this season, but it’s a good start for sure.

He has yet to appear in a tie ballgame, has only appeared once when the Jays are trailing by a run, and has not appeared when they’ve had leads of one, two, or three runs. That should tell you something about how much faith Gibby has in the Raceland, Louisiana native.

Still, Loup seems to be putting things together quite nicely, and while it’ll take some time for his skipper to start trusting him in higher leverage situations, he’ll serve as the “long-man” in the meantime.

Grade: B-

John Axford – Flamethrower from Port Dover

Regardless of how much you value his pitching abilities, John Axford becoming a Toronto Blue Jay is an undoubtedly great story. Growing up in the small town of Port Dover, Ontario, Axford was a big Jays fan in his youth. After eight big league seasons, the Ax Man has finally come home.

On the field, Axford has been nothing short of brilliant, pitching to a 2.08 ERA over 13.0 innings, striking out 13 and walking six. He’s appeared primarily in the eighth inning when the Jays are far ahead or far behind. He’s pitched two full innings on two separate occasions.

Some might say that the lack of pressure in Axford’s appearances diminishes his overall value, and that’s a valid point. Having only appeared in a one-run game twice, Axford is not by any means pitching in high-pressure situations. Still, it’s hard to argue with a sub-2.50 ERA and over ten innings in the first month of the season.

Best of all, the Jays picked him up on a minor-league deal. It was a low-risk, high reward deal that has paid off so far. His velocity, while slightly lower than his career standard, is still excellent and he’s confident when he takes the bump.

If he keeps up his quiet dominance, the Blue Jays might have something here. For now, we can expect Ax to continue to work in low-pressure situations until he can consistently prove that he’s fit to appear in close games.

Grade: B+

Tyler Clippard – Journeyman Extraordinaire

Similarly to Axford, not much was expected of 33-year-old veteran Tyler Clippard. At best, the front office hoped he would toss some decent innings out of the pen. The signing was, just like Axford, low-risk, but very high reward. He was lights out in Spring Training and rightly earned himself a spot on the Opening Day roster.

So far this season, Clippard has pitched to a dazzling 2.03 ERA, with 12 strikeouts over 13.1(!) innings, walking eight and appearing in 13 games. Also worth noting is that Clippard has a 3-0 record, and is tied for the major league lead in wins among relievers. Wins obviously are not the only clear sign of an effective relief pitcher, but this is a neat figure nonetheless.

His WHIP currently stands at 0.98, and he’s held opposing hitters to a stingy .116 average. With closing experience, Clippard has also appeared in some late-inning situations. I’ve detailed the specifics of his hot start here.

With how great Clippard has been, there’s not much to argue with here. He’s mixed speeds effectively, kept runners off the base paths, and has looked as confident as ever. He’s shown he can keep up with the big boys in the pen and has certainly earned the trust of his manager.

While relief success can be extremely volatile, the Blue Jays should continue to ride Clippard while he’s still successful. For now, he’s one of their best arms and looks poised to stay that way for the near future.

Grade: A-

Danny Barnes – Fringe Prospect Turned Major Leaguer

Danny Barnes, a 35th round pick in 2010, has slowly but surely crept into the Blue Jays pen, all but cementing himself as a staple in the relief group. Since his debut in 2016, Barnes has pitched to a 3.40 ERA over 92.2 innings with a solid 1.176 WHIP.

This year, he’s been even better than that, allowing just three earned runs over 13 innings, good enough for a 2.08 ERA. He’s allowed just 13 hits and has walked five for a WHIP of 1.385. He has but one blown save, but outside of that, he’s been lights out.

Primarily serving as a middle relief man, Barnes has appeared in the seventh inning more than any other inning, pitching primarily in close games in which the Jays have a lead of three runs or less. He has thrown no more than one inning in any of his outings.

With a striking ability to wriggle his way out of tough jams, Barnes has allowed just 25% of inherited runners to score. His fastball has been electric, and he’s been able to handle some of the most frightening lineups in the division. He has four holds, which is second on the team.

With all that being said, I think it’s safe to say that while Barnes has exceeded expectations, he’s not having a fluke season by any means. Past success, along with solid mechanics, have translated excellently to an outstanding start to his year.

Grade: A-

Ryan Tepera – Dominant Setup Man

Just like many other members of the Blue Jays pen, Ryan Tepera has been nothing short of impressive this year. In 13.2 innings this season, Tepera has pitched to a 1.98 ERA with 16(!) punchouts, appearing in 15 games. He’s appeared a little more than you’d like your setup guy to pitch, but such is one of the very few disadvantages of winning ball games with consistency and regularity.

With this hot start, Tepera has established himself as a formidable setup option to bridge the gap from the middle relief squad to Osuna. So far, Tepera leads the team in holds with seven, sitting fourth in the majors in that statistic.

His fastball has been electric and he’s been an intimidating figure whenever he takes the bump. On the subject of Tepera, John Gibbons has said that he’s even comfortable with using Tepera in the closer’s role should Osuna be unavailable due to fatigue or injury. This is, to say the very least, a tremendous display of confidence from the skipper, and is great to see.

As of April 30th, Tepera’s record stands at 1-1 and he has one blown save. He’s working efficiently and effectively and should remain a staple in the bullpen as the season progresses.

Also worth mentioning is that Tepera is a very colourful personality off the field, often tweeting in support of his teammates and spreading his pride for the city of Toronto. You can follow him at twitter.com/RTepera.

Grade: A-

Roberto Osuna – Young Gun

Predictably the final reliever reviewed on this list, exciting young closer Roberto Osuna has continued his tradition of excellence with a fantastic start to yet another season. In 11 appearances, Osuna has pitched to a 2.38 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 11.1 innings. He has six saves and his WHIP stands at a respectable 1.06.

It’s been business as usual for the young Mexican hurler. He’s come into games late and has gotten the job done. It seems with every game, he gets more impressive. His velocity continues to remain steady, his location is as good as ever, and he’s been able to pitch more frequently than ever before.

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Having only surrendered runs in two of his outings, his ERA is not an accurate representation of his performance thus far. He didn’t allow a hit until his fifth inning of work and hadn’t allowed a run until his ninth appearance.

Additionally, Osuna became the youngest player in Major League history to reach 100 saves, surpassing Francisco Rodriguez. He’s consistently been the most effective pitcher in the pen, and perhaps on the team. After a great spring, he’s carried that exceptional momentum into the early part of the 2018 season.

Grade: A

With that, I think we’ve proved that the Jays bullpen has been fantastic so far, shutting down opposing lineups with ease and keeping them in games like never before. An outstanding weapon here’s hoping the bullpen continues to stay hot. As we’ve seen in the past, a good bullpen can be the difference between a win and a loss, and you can never have too much bullpen depth, something the Blue Jays have learned over the past few seasons.

Next: Blue Jays: The remarkable rise of Teoscar Hernandez