Blue Jays: Eye-popping numbers from the bullpen so far

If you claim to have predicted that the strongest part of the Blue Jays roster in 2021 would be the bullpen, well, I’d probably call you a liar.

At the beginning of the year I was hopeful that the Jays could have an above-average group of relievers, but I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t see this coming. That’s especially the case because they lost Kirby Yates, their presumed closer, before the regular season had even started, and they’ve dealt with a plethora of injuries to their bullpen.

Somehow it hasn’t changed the results once the starting rotation has turned the ball over, and their “next man up” approach has rolled out one elite reliever after another. It’s arguably the biggest reason that the Blue Jays are now three games over .500, and likely why the early returns from their rotation haven’t been a greater focus.

Having watched most of the games so far this year, I had a general idea how good the bullpen has been. That said, I don’t know that I truly appreciated it until I looked at the numbers, and just how many arms are producing at a high level.

Let’s start with the late-inning guys:

Julian Merryweather– 0.00 ERA, 0.46 WHIP, 4.1 IP, .077 BAA
Jordan Romano– 2.79 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 9.2 IP, .194 BAA
Ryan Borucki– 4.05 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 13.1 IP, .159 BAA
Rafael Dolis– 4.26 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 12.2 IP, .098 BAA

I’m well aware that there are other relievers that have pitched in the late innings, but I wanted to break up the names a bit and this seemed like a decent place to start. These four pitchers were originally tasked with handling the 7th to 9th innings to begin the year, but unfortunately both Merryweather and Dolis are currently on the Injured List. When they have all been available, they’re been as good as any late-inning group in baseball.

Middle relievers

David Phelps– 0.87 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 10.1 IP, .213 BAA
Tyler Chatwood– 0.68 ERA, 0.75 WHIP. 13.1 IP, .156 BAA
Tim Mayza– 1.86 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 9.2 IP, .250 BAA

As I said above, these “middle relievers” have been pushed to more prominent roles because of all of the injuries, and they’ve stepped up to meet the challenge at every turn. Unfortunately Phelps also landed on the IL, but he was absolutely lights out before then. Since he’s been unavailable, Chatwood has really stepped up to help cover the late innings, just as he did for the first two games of this week’s series with Atlanta. As for Mayza, he’s not only made a successful return to the big leagues after major elbow surgery, he’s dominated in limited opportunity.

Surprise contributions

Trent Thornton– 2.45 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 18.1 IP, .239 BAA
Anthony Castro– 0.00 ERA, 0.55 WHIP, 7.1 IP, .120 BAA
Travis Bergen– 0.00 ERA, .075 WHIP, 6.2 IP, .095 BAA
Joel Payamps– 2.35 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 15.1 IP, .246 BAA

Even before this section we’ve already listed enough relievers to make up a full group, and thankfully the fill-ins have kept up the elite production.

Thornton has been used as a starter/long-man, but he’s been quietly successful thus far, and an important arm for Charlie Montoyo to be able to turn to. He may eventually get a chance in the rotation at some point, but he’s proving to be a valuable long reliever right now and the Blue Jays may not want to move him out of that role just yet.

As for Castro, Bergen, and Payamps, all three have been pleasant surprises so far, and have really helped weather the storm of all the injuries. After a couple of nice outings, including last night’s save, you could probably throw A.J. Cole in this group as well, even if he’s a known commodity from last year.

This level of production isn’t going to last forever from this many different pitchers, but so far the Blue Jays have greatly benefitted from having one of the top bullpens in baseball. It’s pretty hard to imagine where they’d be without it.