Casey Janssen won’t be available out of the bullpen Saturday, but there’s no question that he’s back where the Toronto Blue Jays need him. Janssen will rest after picking up three saves in four days, a stretch that has reminded the Blue Jays just how valuable their closer can be.
“In the baseball world, I’m not sure he gets the recognition he deserves,” manager John Gibbons said Saturday. “But with this team here he definitely does, and with the guys that face us a lot. I may be totally wrong, but you don’t hear about him as often.”
“You look at the last two years, he’s been as good as anybody. He does it a different way. He’s not going to overpower a guy, but he’s a great competitor.”
Janssen missed the first five weeks of the season with a left abdominal lower back strain, but has pitched tremendously in seven outings since being activated. The 32-year-old right-hander has completed seven scoreless innings, collecting six saves while striking out four and walking one. Even if he doesn’t have overpowering stuff, his pinpoint fastball command allows him to succeed.
“He can hit a gnat’s butt on that corner,” Gibbons said.
With a career walk rate of 2.3 bases on balls per nine innings, this isn’t a blip. It’s simply how Janssen operates.
“That’s a huge part of the job,” Gibbons said. “You see guys go out there with a great arm, but they seem to wilt under the heat. He does it differently, but you’ve got to beat him. He’s not going to beat himself.”
HENDRIKS IMPRESSES: The Blue Jays were pleased with what they saw from Liam Hendriks in his season debut Friday. The Australian right-hander pitched into the sixth inning, limiting the Oakland Athletics to one earned run.
“I liked everything I saw,” Gibbons said. “He looked confident, and he’s been in the big leagues before. He picked up right where he left off in triple-A against a good hitting club. You’ll see him back out there.”
Hendriks posted a 1.48 ERA in 48.2 innings at triple-A before joining the Blue Jays. His next start will come Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays and, as Arden Zwelling writes, he has earned it.
NOTES: The Rogers Centre roof opened for the first time in 2014 Saturday… Gibbons has no problem with sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion going the opposite way from time to time: “You want those guys to hit home runs, but you know what, there’s other ways to produce, too,” he said… Colby Rasmus, on the disabled list with right hamstring soreness, ran some sprints in the outfield before the game.