Blue Jays: Recapping what’s gone wrong in the bullpen this season

It’s hard not to think about where the Blue Jays would be with a more effective bullpen. It’s been a weakness for the team for all but the very early stages of the schedule, and unfortunately it’s become a regular occurrence to witness blown leads in the late innings. We saw that very thing play out again against the lowly Washington Nationals to begin the week, which resulted in a two-game sweep that the Blue Jays really can’t afford right now.

What’s truly maddening for Jays fans is that they’ve had a lot of very talented relievers come and go this season, and yet somehow they haven’t been able to put together a group of 7-8 that can do the job. In fact, most of the time it’s one or two that are reaching expectations, if that.

There are many different reasons why the bullpen has been such a weakness, and I thought it might be interesting to break it down. On one hand I actually feel bad for Ross Atkins and the front office, especially when you look at how many serviceable relievers have been added to the roster over the last 12 months. On the other, I think even they’d admit that they need to do a better job of identifying talent ahead of next season, even if their track record in that department was pretty good prior to 2021.

Whether it’s been injuries, underperformance, or other factors at play, the Blue Jays bullpen simply hasn’t been effective enough to keep this team in the playoff hunt. Let’s have a look at what’s worked against them.

A staggering amount of injuries

I’m not here to make excuses for the Blue Jays when it comes to their leaky bullpen, but it’s hard not to dream about what could have been.

Injuries have taken their toll on this group, which has hurt them throughout the year and is still keeping them from assembling their best at the moment. It’s resulted in a pretty big revolving door in the bullpen, and I’m sure it’s added many extra hours to pitching coach Pete Walker’s workload.

Just look at the lost list of injuries that they’ve had to navigate.

Out for the season

• Kirby Yates
• David Phelps
• Carl Edwards Jr.

Basically out for the season (and still might be)

• Julian Merryweather
• Nate Pearson
• A.J. Cole
• Anthony Castro

Missed significant time:

• Tim Mayza
• Ryan Borucki
• Thomas Hatch
• Rafael Dolis
• Tyler Chatwood
• Joakim Soria (*one appearance after being acquired)
• Ross Stripling (currently on the IL)

Every big league team is going to go through their injury issues, so it’s not at excuse that stands up very well. That said, given just how much of a weakness the bullpen has been for the Blue Jays this season, we have to acknowledge that it’s been a major factor. I didn’t even list others like Jordan Romano, who has been healthy for the vast majority of the season, so this is far from a complete list of injuries.

It’s not a huge surprise that MLB pitchers have struggled to stay healthy in 2021 after having just a 60-game season in 2020 in the early stages of the pandemic. With that in mind I think it’s fair to ask if the Blue Jays acquired enough depth throughout the year to address the problem. There were points when we screamed for trades to happen in June and early July, but for the most part there should have been enough talent to produce better results than we’ve seen.

I would have loved to have seen how the Blue Jays could have finished with the likes of Yates, Phelps, Merryweather, and more in the bullpen, but I guess we’ll never know.

Missed expectations and disappointing results

As much as injuries have hurt the bullpen, the arms that have been available to Charlie Montoyo and Pete Walker haven’t performed the way that most of us hoped for or expected.

Outside of Jordan Romano and Tim Mayza, I’m not sure that you could say anybody has outperformed those expectations. As a fan, I think that’s what drives me the most nuts about this whole thing. On paper there is so much talent, and yet it’s been one frustration after another.

I figured this was an area that’s even worthy of recapping just how many relievers have disappointed.

Rafael Dolis

Expectation: Late-inning reliever, possible candidate to save some games
Reality: 5.63 ERA, 1.750 WHIP, -0.3 bWAR, DFA’d on Wednesday

Tyler Chatwood

Expectation: Late to middle inning arm, hard-throwing strikeout arm
Reality: 5.46 ERA, 1.429 WHIP, -0.1 bWAR, 28 IP, DFA’d on July 30

Ryan Borucki

Expectation: Late-inning lefty, high leverage candidate
Reality: Injured most of the year, 5.12 ERA, 1.138 WHIP, 19.1 IP, -0.1 bWAR, option to Triple-A

Brad Hand

Expectation: Experienced late-inning reliever with closer’s experience, help for Romano
Reality: 7.50 ERA as a Blue Jay

Trent Thornton

Expectation: Long-man for bullpen, solid right-handed contributor
Reality: 4.71 ERA, 1.405 WHIP, 42 IP, -0.4 bWAR

Anthony Kay

Expectation: Long-man/spot starter, effective reliever in 2020
Reality: 5.61 ERA, 1.663 WHIP, 33.2 IP, -0.1 bWAR

I could go on, but I think you get my point here. Outside of a handful of reliable contributors, there are times when I truly feel bad for the coaching staff as they try to decide where to turn after they’ve taken their starter out.

Between injuries and disappointing performances, that should be enough on it’s own to make things tough for the Blue Jays bullpen. That said, I’d argue there’s at least one more factor at play here.