BOSTON – The Toronto Blue Jays could turn to Roberto Osuna for four-plus outs at a time this weekend as they look to stop a late-season slide and secure a wild card berth.
The Blue Jays’ bullpen blew a late lead for the third time in a week on Friday, when David Ortiz lined a Brett Cecil fastball over the right field wall. Now just 0.5 games ahead of the Detroit Tigers in the wild card race, the Blue Jays no longer have any room for error. After two days off, Osuna’s ready to pitch more than an inning. In fact he’s hoping it happens.
“I know these games are going to be huge for us, so I’m going to be ready,” he said. “Hopefully they use me for three or more outs, since it means we’ve got the lead.”
The Blue Jays used Osuna 12 times in September, including three back-to-back games. On the season he’s pitched 71 innings, a comparable total to his 2015 rookie season, when he logged 69.2 regular season innings.
“I feel like everybody else,” Osuna said. “Everybody feels tired this time of the season, but look, there’s only two games left. You’ve got to forget about that, get out there and give whatever you have because there’s no tomorrow.”
Before Saturday’s game Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said that he’d be comfortable going to his 21-year-old closer for more than an inning “if that’s what it takes.” Along those lines, Jason Grilli could be asked to pitch in a high-leverage spot after a couple welcome days off.
“They’re all fine now,” Gibbons said. “There’s not much time left anyways.”
The Blue Jays have asked Osuna to record more than three outs on nine occasions, including three times in September. In eight of those games, he recorded four outs, the lone exception occurring in May when he pitched the ninth and 10th innings in Minnesota. Should a similar situation arise at Fenway Park this weekend, Osuna will welcome it.
“We need to win these two,” he said. “You can’t think about yourself. You’ve got to think of the team. That’s what I’m going to do whether they need me for one, two, three, four innings, I’ll be back there.”