The Blue Jays' bullpen depth is officially a problem

The Toronto Blue Jays are not a complete team. No team in baseball is.

But, at this point, it's becoming abundantly clear what their imperfections are, with the biggest one being the back of their bullpen.

Blue Jays fans are no stranger to bullpen issues (last year's team finished with the second-highest bullpen ERA in baseball), and it's clear that this year's team has a better 'pen thanks to strong starts to the season from guys like Jeff Hoffman and Yimi García.

But it's the pitchers who enter the game before them that are the problem — and could end up being a problem for most of the season.

Bullpen depth is officially a problem for the Blue Jays

The Blue Jays roster moves from the weekend sums up the state of the Blue Jays' bullpen.

Nick Sandlin, who was acquired from the Guardians in the offseason and was emerging as a solid option for the middle innings, hit the injured list the day after he pitched a clean inning with two strikeouts.

To fill his void in the bullpen, the team recalled veteran Dillon Tate from Triple-A, who promptly two runs in 1 1/3 innings on Sunday.

But the biggest indication of the Blue Jays' bullpen problems came in the last bullet point of that 66-word release:

RHP Jacob Barnes Designated For Assignment

Branes made the team out of spring training along with Richard Lovelady despite neither one of them being on the Blue Jays' 40-man roster.

Lovelady's tenure on the Blue Jays' roster lasted all of one week and 1 2/3 innings. Barnes' lasted a little longer before it came to an end a day after he allowed an extra-inning grand slam to Rowdy Tellez in a loss to the Mariners.

That appearance marked Barnes' first high-leverage appearance of the year, and he failed the test miserably. In total, Barnes allowed eight runs in eight innings across his Blue Jays' tenure.

While the Blue Jays' bullpen has a 3.44 ERA this year, their bullpen ERA shoots up to 4.33 if you remove Hoffman and García from the picture.

Which is how bullpens work; your closer and set-up man are supposed to be the best pitchers on the team. But it's becoming more and more evident that the Blue Jays' bullpen depth just isn't there.

It's worth nothing that Schultz tied an MLB record by recording eight strikeouts in his MLB debut across 4 1/3 shutout innings. He's an intriguing swingman option, but it would be foolish to think he could replicate that historic production in every outing this year.

While Erik Swanson's return will help the middle of the Blue Jays' bullpen — MLB.com Keegan Matheson wrote that he's expected to go on a rehab assignment soon — he's only other pitcher.

Yariel Rodriguez has calmed down after a rough start to the year and has allowed just one run over his last 6 1/3 innings, but both of his past two apperances have been multi-inning affairs. While it's great to have him as a multi-inning weapon, it also means that you can't have him go back-to-back days.

One player who's stepped up to the Brendon Little leads MLB with 12 appearances and has pitched well so far (2.70 ERA), while Hoffman leads the game with nine games finished.

While the Blue Jays are likely ecstatic to finally have a group of relievers they trust, you also don't want to overwork your relievers this early in the season.

So whats next?

On Monday, the team recalled reliever Josh Walker from Triple-A and sent Easton Lucas down to the minors in his place after two rough starts.

Walker has a 2.57 ERA in seven innings in Triple-A, and is the latest reliever tasked with filling the team's middle-innings problem.

Tate, Schultz and Walker will likely get a decent amount of time to prove that they can stick, but they're stepping into a situation that's close to boiling over.

For the first time in two years, the Blue Jays have some relievers who make the eighth and ninth inning a breeze.

The only problem is getting to them.