TORONTO — Brett Cecil has spent the entire 2016 season searching for his curveball. After a month and a half spent in the baseball wilderness, he thinks he’s finally found it.
Cecil returned to the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday, nearly seven weeks after he hit the disabled list with a tear in his lat. He’ll slide right back into his usual role as a primary set-up man in the club’s bullpen, working to prove he can still pitch like the guy who was one of the best left-handed relievers in baseball over the last three seasons.
"It feels like I was gone for a lot longer than what it looks like on paper, but I’m happy to be back," Cecil said, leaning on a Rogers Centre dugout railing before Thursday’s series opener against Cleveland. "Everything’s feeling good. I’m a lot more confident than I was earlier in the season. I got my curveball back to where it needs to be."
If that proves true it’ll be a huge boon for Cecil, who struggled mightily to locate his curveball in 16 appearances in April and May, posting a lousy 5.23 ERA before his DL stint. It was a far cry from the Cecil Blue Jays fans had grown accustomed to—the one who posted a 2.67 ERA in 168.1 innings over the last three seasons, striking out 11.5 batters per nine innings.
As Cecil battled his curveball command, he began making mechanical changes in an effort to get right, which only led to more trouble. While he was on the DL, Cecil tried to return to the delivery that gave him so much success and focused on remaining upright in order to stay over the rubber and keep his arm more in line with his body.
"I was trying to throw it harder, trying to get on top of it more. But, really, I just needed to relax and get it out in front," Cecil said. "And it’s certainly not good to overthrow, overthrow, overthrow. So, I’ve made some changes to try to stay more upright and not arch my back so much."
It’s impossible to understate just how important the curveball is to Cecil, who used it 41 per cent of the time last season and 44 per cent in 2014. When he can’t locate it for strikes hitters can simply hunt for his fastball, which sits at 92-93 mph and is a much more hittable pitch.
FanGraphs’ Pitch Value metric assigned Cecil’s curveball a runs above average of 9.2 in 2015 and 9.3 in 2014. That made it the ninth-best curveball in the majors last season and the sixth-best two years ago. So far this season, Cecil’s curveball is ranked eighth worst in baseball at 4.2 runs below average.
That simply won’t do. But Cecil was encouraged by the results he got with the pitch on a rehab assignment that took him from single-A Dunedin to triple-A Buffalo. He allowed three hits and a run in four innings, striking out four.
"Honestly, I really can’t tell anything with my curveball from just throwing it in a bullpen session. I will snap some good ones off here and there, but I need a hitter in there to give me a point of reference," Cecil said. "I can tell a sharp one from a lazy one with a hitter in there. And I’ve been throwing some pretty good ones."
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons says he’ll give Cecil an opportunity to prove he’s regained command of the pitch in high leverage situations going forward. An on-form Cecil would immediately become the second-best arm in a beleaguered Blue Jays bullpen.
"I can’t say that this is his inning or that is his inning, but it’s going to be important stuff," Gibbons said of the situations Cecil will face, before aptly adding, "…not that it’s not all important."
Meanwhile, Gibbons will try to shift Joe Biagini and Bo Schultz into larger roles, as the club looks for a reliable middle-inning bridge to replace Gavin Floyd, who will miss the next 8-12 weeks with a torn lat. Both relievers could see outings of longer than an inning going forward.
Schultz is an especially intriguing option, as the right-hander has returned from off-season hip surgery flashing a high 90s fastball.
"He’s got that big, big arm," Gibbons said. "There’s something about having that big velocity. You can get away with more mistakes, there’s no doubt about it. But it’s never an easy at-bat. And they get strikeouts. Strikeouts are so key to relievers when contact’s your enemy."
For Cecil, it’s simply nice to be back in the majors. Nice to have a handle on his curveball again, nice to have an opportunity to prove his early-season struggles were a mere aberration, and nice to not have to watch his teammates from a distance any longer.
"It stinks, I’m not going to lie. And, really, I couldn’t even watch the games on TV. I would just look at box scores," said Cecil, who missed 43 games. "It’s tough to just sit there and watch when you’re not out there."
"But today all the boys were happy to see me. Gave me hugs when I came in. Hopefully it does kind of bring back a little boost of energy. Hopefully I can get off to a good start, off on a good note, and get these guys going a little bit."