The Blue Jays bullpen is slowly becoming a weapon

In what has been an up-and-down season so far for the Blue Jays, one area of the team is becoming a more stable unit.

Quietly, the Blue Jays bullpen has become one of the more reliable in baseball. Toronto 's relief corps entered Thursday night's game with a 3.15 ERA in May, which is the eighth-best bullpen ERA in the majors in that time frame. That's a big improvement from March/April, when the Jays clocked in with a 3.90 ERA (the 17th best mark).

The bullpen played a role in recent series wins over Texas and San Diego. Toronto relievers held the Padres' powerful lineup to just one hit over three scoreless innings in a 3-0 win in the first game of the series. In the third game, the bullpen held the Padres to just a Gavin Sheets two-run home run and a pair of unearned runs (both scored by the extra-inning runners) over seven innings in a 7-6, 11-inning win and series sweep.

Then they followed that up by winning the finale of their series against the Rangers with a bullpen game when a group of five relievers combined to hold the Rangers to one hit over nine innings with 13 strikeouts.

The Blue Jays bullpen is slowly becoming a weapon

The bullpen's strong performance in May may be a bit surprising considering Jeff Hoffman's struggles, and YImi García's injury. García has a 3.15 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 20 innings this year, but went on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement on May 24.

Issues in the starting rotation hasn't helped, as the unit's had to work more all year thanks t Max Scherzer's injury and the organization's lack of starting pitcher depth.

While the rotation has struggled for most of May (outside of Chris Bassitt), things are starting to turn around.

Kevin Gausman has allowed one run over his last 15 innings and Bowden Francis has allowed two runs over his last nine innings and two starts.

And if that wasn't enough Jose Berríos held the Athletics scoreless over six innings Thursday night after allowing just three runs over six innings against Tampa Bay in his start prior.

In the nightmare that was last season, the Blue Jays bullpen had an awful 4.28 ERA, which was next-to-last in the majors. A bullpen makeover was on the menu for the offseason, which led to the signing of Hoffman — who had a terrific April and has pitched better since his May implosion, with four of his last five games being scoreless outings — and the reunion with García.

The bullpen's depth has also been on display this month.

One of the bullpen's stars has been Yariel Rodríguez. Rodríguez has allowed just one run in 11 games (14 2/3 innings) in May, and opponents have hit just .133 against him.

Lefty Brendon Little has been solid for the whole season so far, and hasn't allowed an earned run this month. He has a 1.46 ERA for the year across 24 2/3 innings. Rookie southpaw Mason Fluharty has also shined (3.86 ERA over 21 innings), and Eric Lauer (2.30 ERA over 15.2 innings in May) and rookie Paxton Schultz (three earned runs allowed in 13.1 innings) have also contributed.

Veteran Chad Green got off to a rough start, but has been better this month, allowing just three runs in 10 1/3 innings.

One possible explanation for the success may be the bullpen's ability to consistently throw strikes. The Blue Jays' bullpen entered Thursday night second in the majors with 239 strikeouts along with being seventh in the majors with a 9.76 strikeouts per nine innings ratio. The team is ninth with just 74 walks.

There is room for improvement, though.

For example, Toronto still ranks in the lower half of MLB in home runs allowed per nine innings (0.99, which is 20th in the majors) and the percentage of runners left on base (67.9%, which is 21st). There is a good chance those numbers will dip once García returns. Erik Swanson is also expected back this weekend, and he could be a huge help as well.

If the Blue Jays hope to steady the ship this season, continued success from the bullpen will be a must.