Blue Jays would be better served demoting Joe Biagini
The Toronto Blue Jays would be better served to send reliever Joe Biagini back to the minors to iron out the kinks rather than continue to get decimated at the major league level.
Joe Biagini has been awful in every role he has been utilized in this season and can no longer be relied upon to get major league hitters out. Yesterday was just another disappointing chapter in the Biagini season of struggle as the big right-hander now sports a bloated 8.26 earned run average.
The 28-year old has no business being in the majors and the Jays could utilize the likes of an effective Tim Mayza or even Conor Fisk who are both pitching well for the Triple-A affiliate. Mayza looked sharp in his 10 relief appearances earlier in the season however he was sent packing back to the herd over Biagini despite his impressive 2.70 earned run average.
Fisk sports a tidy 0.75 earned run average in 18 relief appearances between New Hampshire and Buffalo this season. The 26-year old was selected in the 24th round of the 2014 amateur draft and is still looking to make his majors debut.
Biagini has surrendered runs in six of his nine relief appearances since being removed from the Blue Jays rotation. In those 9.2 innings of relief work, he has been the victim of 10 earned runs including four home runs.
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This comes after going 0-3 as a starter with an inflated 7.71 earned run average in four starts. His breakout season of 2016 seems like a distant memory at this stage of the game.
Manager John Gibbons has afforded Biagini with every opportunity to pitch out of the funk but the reliever continues to falter. Biagini did his best versus the Nationals yesterday to open the gate and allow the Washington contingent back into the contest allowing two runs on three hits before being yanked.
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The Jays bullpen has been overworked all season long and could benefit from a fresh arm or two from the farm. Like it or not, Biagini and his usefulness as an MLB reliever have expired and he should be the player riding the bus back to Buffalo.