Is Bassitt bullpen bound once Bieber finishes rehab stint

Toronto Blue Jays trade deadline acquisition Shane Bieber now has two starts under his belt down on the farm. The former Cy Young award winner is working his way back from Tommy John surgery and appears to be nearing is imminent return to the big leagues.

Bieber struck out six batters over 5.2 innings on Saturday with Buffalo against the Worcester Red Sox. He allowed two runs on four hits and one walk.
When Bieber eventually does make it to Toronto, the Blue Jays have a big decision to make.

Toronto has had a solid five man rotation since the end of June. Prior to that they were basically running on a three man, glue it together and hope it works, rotation. Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and José Berrios were locking down games as best they could, until Eric Lauer came seemingly out of nowhere to hold down the fourth spot. Max Scherzer came off the injured list shortly after to close up the back end.

And while this rotation has been good, it has a chance to be even better once Bieber puts on the Blue Jays uniform. The only issue is that one of those previous five pitchers listed will likely lose their spot as a starter and be asked to work out of the bullpen. But it's not a matter of who is performing the worst that gets relegated to the 'pen, it's a question of 'who will be the pitcher that could have the most success in that role?"

Is Bassitt bullpen bound once Bieber finishes rehab stint

The Blue Jays are likely not going to send the 41-year-old Scherzer to the pen. Meanwhile, Lauer is the lone lefty in the rotation and has actually been the best pitcher on the Jays by bWAR this season, with a 2.5 mark in 18 games, and 12 starts. Gausman has had a tremendous last few weeks.
Since the end of June, Gausman has a 2.54 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, with 51 strikeouts in just under 50 innings pitched over eight starts.

That leaves José Berrios and Chris Bassitt and you really have to ask yourself, which guy do you trust the most to come out of the bullpen perhaps multiple times in a series.

The answer is probably Bassitt based on the fact that he throws so many more pitches, allowing for the Blue Jays to utilize that more to their advantage. This isn't just about the fact that Bassitt has posted the worst numbers in the rotation as there are many teams throughout MLB who would love to have a number 4-5 starter who has a K/9 rate of 8.6 and an ERA of 4.17, who goes out and battles every single inning of every single game.

With his unique ability of being able to throw eight different pitches for strikes, he is a guy that could be a two or three inning pitcher out of the bullpen that could be utilized in a myriad of scenarios. Bassitt throws a sinker, a cutter, a curveball, a sweeper, a split finger, a changeup, a slider and a four-seam fastball, which means the Blue Jays have one guy who can matchup with just about anybody in any lineup at least once in a game.

This season, Bassitt has kept hitters to a .239/.287/.423 slash line the first time through the order in a game. He's given up just 48 hits in 216 plate appearances, with 55 strikeouts and 10 walks in those situations. Batters have a much better time hitting Bassitt the second time around as those numbers jump to .316/.373/.487 and his strikout average drops from 5.50 to 3.54. One anomaly is that Bassitt has given up 10 home runs the first time through the order compared to seven in the second go-around.

Bassitt would likely have the most success out of any of the Blue Jays current starting five if he were to move to a bullpen role, based on his pitching makeup and his ability to matchup against different hitters in different situations.