Why the Blue Jays bullpen will be addressed at the deadline

The Toronto Blue Jays have been the hottest team in the majors over the last week-plus, a stretch that has put them atop the AL East standings, something they haven't done this late in the season since 2016. They have been on a roll despite a severely taxed bullpen, and the squad has gone to extremes to get through some recent ballgames. This hasn’t cost them yet, but it only reaffirms that upgrading the relief corps will be the top priority ahead of the July 31 trade deadline.

Why the Blue Jays bullpen will be addressed at the deadline

The Jays are coming off a perfect 7-0 homestand, where they had to get creative in terms of managing their bullpen arms throughout the week. After an impressive first two months of the season, lefty rookie Mason Fluharty was demoted to Triple-A Buffalo on June 30 following an ugly stretch of June that saw him surrender 16 hits and 12 earned runs over 10 games (14.73 ERA) across 7.1 innings.

That move increased the importance of fellow southpaw Justin Bruihl, who was promoted to the big leagues the previous day. Bruihl pitched twice in the series sweep over the Yankees, getting one out in both the second and fourth games, while allowing one earned run. He was optioned back to Buffalo on July 4 but was recalled just yesterday (Tuesday) after Nick Sandlin was placed on the 15-day IL with right elbow inflammation.

After sending Bruihl down, the Blue Jays promoted Robinson Piña, the right-handed pitcher they acquired in a trade from the Miami Marlins in late June. He made his team debut during Monday’s win over the Chicago White Sox, getting four outs while allowing three runs, although only one earned run. Lazaro Estrada was also activated ahead of Saturday’s contest against the Angels and was inserted into the game after Max Scherzer exited after four innings.  The Cuban native played a huge part in the 4-3 extra innings victory by pitching four innings, while allowing just two hits and one earned run.

The bullpen got another boost on Sunday when they welcomed Ryan Burr back into the fold.  The hard-throwing righty struck out 47 batters in 32.2 innings in 2024 and appears to have resumed where he left off by striking out three of six batters faced in his season debut. His arrival comes after the Jays lost one of their most valuable relief weapons, Yimi Garcia, who was placed on IL with a left ankle sprain.

The Blue Jays have the 10th-best bullpen ERA in the majors (3.62) despite using 27 different pitchers. They can hope to continue to get that same effectiveness over the final two-plus months of the season, but considering how the team has overachieved this year, hope can’t be the strategy.

Fortifying the bullpen with proven arms like Gregory Soto, Peter Fairbanks, Kyle Finnegan, or Jake Bird would be prudent and add strength to what has been a surprisingly solid unit this season. Getting a high-strikeout reliever like Burr back will help, and Garcia should be a big part of the solution when healthy, but it’s time for the front office to invest in some high-commodity arms that will be available as the deadline approaches.