The Blue Jays have a massive problem to solve if they want a deep postseason run

Since July 27th, the Blue Jays are 11-11 after their 7-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 19th. Luckily for them, the Red Sox and New York Yankees are 12-9 over that span, so the Blue Jays have only lost 1.5 games in the AL East title chase. One major factor in the .500 record is the bullpen's abysmal production. Over the last month, they are 25th in ERA (5.06) and 30th in walks per nine innings (6.06).

On August 4th, the bullpen ranked 18th in ERA (4.03), making the 15-day span more alarming because Mason Fluharty and Jeff Hoffman had ERAs of 5.63 and 4.66 at the time; however, they have since improved to 5.05 and 4.15, respectively. This means that the pitchers who were producing the better ERAs are now performing worse, although they still have respectable stats; there's a sign of regression.

It may just be a sign of the heavy workload some of the less experienced players have been asked to perform, coming back to haunt the team, but with 35 games remaining in the regular season, this is when you want your players playing at their best, not limping into the postseason.

The Blue Jays need to resolve some recent bullpen issues

Brendon Little has been the go-to left-handed reliever for the bullpen since Eric Lauer became a starter due to the injury issues the starting rotation has suffered all season. Little has pitched 54 innings this season, but over his three seasons in the majors, although he pitched only 2/3 of an inning in 2022, his previous career high was 45 2/3 innings (not counting his outing on Wednesday in Pittsburgh).

There's no sign his workload will diminish, so he will far exceed his 2023 total, but Fluharty's recent success may help ease Manager John Schneider's need to go to Little when left-handed batters are due up. On July 29th, Little's ERA was 1.93; it is now 3.00, although this is skewed by a game where the Baltimore Orioles scored four earned runs in 1/3 of an inning and another where the Los Angeles Dodgers scored three earned runs in a game that the lefty didn’t record an out.

The signs of a regression due to the workload amount could be happening, but hopefully Little can figure out his issues because he will be an instrumental arm during the postseason.

Another standout arm that has regressed slightly is that of rookie Braydon Fisher. On July 28th, he had a 2.59 ERA that has since increased to 3.05, which doesn't seem that bad, but in two of his last three outings, he's given up two earned runs to both the Chicago Cubs in 1/3 of an inning and to the Texas Rangers in one full inning.

Overall, on the season, the righty has thrown 38 1/3 innings. That number, plus the 11 1/3 innings he threw in the minors this season, is still under his career-high of the 70 he threw in 2021, so Fisher should be able to handle the final stretch if the looming postseason pressure doesn't rile the rookie.

Yariel Rodríguez, the second-year pro, is a massive contributor to the increase in ERA. His 2.21 ERA on July 29th has increased to 3.19, which appears to be a slight increase; however, his overall July ERA was 2.13. In August, his ERA is 9.00. The righty has given up six earned runs in six innings of work.

Although four of those runs came in one game against the Dodgers over 1/3 of an inning. Workload can’t be used as a reason for his lack of production in August, as he threw 86 2/3 innings last season with the Blue Jays. Rodríguez needs to use the last remaining games to get his control figured out because he has walked at least one batter in five of his six August appearances.

Seranthony Domínguez had Blue Jays fans excited after throwing two hitless innings after being acquired from the Baltimore Orioles at the trade deadline. These two innings even came against his former team. He's had a decent month of August, but his overall ERA is 8.44 thanks to back-to-back outings giving up three earned runs to the Kansas City Royals and two earned runs to the Dodgers. He, too, has had a control issue, walking six batters over 5 1/3 innings in August.

Another trade acquisition is Louis Varland, who came over from the Minnesota Twins and is struggling in August. His 2.02 ERA, as of July 29th, has increased to 2.48. This increase is due to allowing five earned runs over nine innings, four of which have come over his last three outings.

Workload can’t be the issue with the recent struggles because he's only thrown 58 innings this season, and his career high between the minor level and professional level is 149 2/3, which he threw in 2023.

The problem is that the Blue Jays' bullpen issues don't revolve around just one player; it's nearly the entire bullpen. This is the majority of the guys Schneider turned to in close games, which is an issue for a team with only a five-game lead in the division over the Yankees, who may have figured out their struggles they've had the last month.

The bullpen had been compensating for the lack of production from the starting pitchers all season long, but it may be time for the 20th-ranked starter's ERA (4.11) to last longer in games, relieving pressure on the bullpen.