TORONTO — There’s plenty to discuss when it comes to the Toronto Blue Jays these days. The once moribund offence finally seems to be clicking. The pitching staff presents a variety of question marks from the innings limit of Aaron Sanchez, to the struggles of Marcus Stroman, to the he-can’t-possibly-keep-this-up-can-he? of Marco Estrada. The AL East is a heavyweight bout, featuring three of the top four teams in the majors when it comes to hitting home runs, and just 2.5 games separating first and third place.
But quietly hovering below the radar of Toronto baseball discussion is a Blue Jays bullpen that has settled down substantially after its early season struggles, and may even be hitting its stride as June wears on.
It starts with Jesse Chavez, who Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker says has “stepped up in a big way” for a bullpen that scuffled through almost the entire first two months of the season. From May 28 through June 18 he strung together 11 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run, a stretch that saw opposition hitters bat .139/.184/.139 against him.
Of course, like many in Toronto’s bullpen, Chavez struggled to get results early in the season. But thanks to a mechanical adjustment, the converted starter has become one of the Blue Jays’ most reliable relief options.
“He got hurt by a couple home runs early on in the year, but as of late he’s been really effective down in the zone,” Walker says. “He’s been sharp and aggressive. I think he’s using his cutter very well.”
That cutter is Chavez’s most important pitch; he’s used it more than any other over his last four seasons. All of his other offerings play off of it. But early on this year, it was getting hit, as Chavez struggled to locate the pitch where he needed to.
The cause of that location difficulty was a mechanical issue that Walker helped identify on video and Chavez has been working hard to correct. The 32-year-old would rather not make the specific issue public, but it’s clear to see his cutter location has improved dramatically in recent weeks.
While opposition batters hit .294 against his cutter in April, and .250 in May, they were managing to hit just .083 against the pitch in June before Chavez gave up a couple runs to the Orioles on Sunday in a low-leverage situation. His swing-and-miss percentage on his cutter has shot up dramatically, from 3.5 per cent in May to 12.3 per cent in June. And batters don’t have a single hit against any of Chavez’s secondary offerings this month, a fact that reinforces just how much a good cutter helps Chavez’s other pitches.
“We have a plan and I’m trying to stick to it every day. I try to repeat the good from the day before and eliminate the bad as much as I can,” Chavez says. “I’ve been able to repeat my mechanics. I’m keeping my arm on top of the ball and letting the grip do the work. I’m letting my eyes take my body where it wants to go. And if my eyes do that, everything else should be great.”
Chavez thinks the mechanical issue cropped up because he started his off-season routine late this winter. Last September, the right-hander took a liner off the midsection and broke a rib, an injury that limited his ability to even breathe and took well into the off-season to recover from.
“It was a slow process. It was very gradual. And as things were slowly getting where I wanted them to be, I started to put more pressure on myself to get it right, because we were breaking camp and we have something to prove,” Chavez says. “And little things like that can kind of contribute to me developing a bad habit mechanically. But I was fortunately able to find out what the problem was at that time and nip it in the bud.”
Meanwhile, Gavin Floyd, who suffered through an awful stretch of outings at the end of May, has a 1.50 ERA over his last six appearances, allowing just two hits in the process. And Drew Storen, who pitched his way out of a high leverage role shortly after spring training with a 10.12 April ERA, has cut that ugly number in half, and is currently riding a string of six consecutive scoreless outings.
Storen has begun to rely on a two-seam fastball instead of the four-seamer he used to such success with the Washington Nationals earlier in his career. He’s also relying more on his changeup than he did earlier in the season, and the adjustments have clearly paid off.
“He’s actually done a nice job as of late. He’s starting to feel pretty good,” Walker says. “The confidence level is definitely higher. And his stuff looks good.”
Jason Grilli celebrates after earning a recent save against the Orioles. (Chris Young/CP)
The addition of Jason Grilli to the bullpen also cannot be overlooked, as he was scoreless in his first five outings following his trade from the Atlanta Braves.
While he’s gotten touched up in his last two appearances against a very dangerous Baltimore Orioles lineup that he faced four consecutive times over the last 10 days, he’s boasting a 17.4 K/9 as a Blue Jay and has allowed just six hits in his seven appearances. And beyond his contributions on the field, the Blue Jays have been blown away by his immediate effect on the clubhouse.
“Grill has been a huge addition down there from a bullpen chemistry standpoint,” Walker says. “He took on a leadership role instantly when he got here.”
And then, there’s closer Roberto Osuna, who was Toronto’s lone reliable reliever when the bullpen was suffering through its early-season struggles. He was given a much-needed week of rest recently, after pitching in 11 of 18 games through late May and early June.
The club was quietly concerned that the 21-year-old was being over-extended through that period, and set out on a course to better manage his innings going forward. Osuna was likely going to cede saves to other relievers in the past week regardless of the games the Blue Jays were playing. But fortunately for the team, they had just one save opportunity in the time Osuna was down, which went to Grilli.
Of course, there are adverse effects to sitting out for too long, as well. The Blue Jays brought Osuna back from his hiatus this past Friday, handing him a 10-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Orioles, who he was facing for a third-consecutive outing.
Pitching with such a massive lead, the right-hander tested out some new strategies on the mound, like the back door slider he’s been working on this season. It turned out to be a good occasion to try the pitch, as weak-hitting Orioles third baseman Ryan Flaherty ambushed it for just his second home run of the season, an ultimately inconsequential bit of damage.
“He’s working on that pitch a little bit, and in that spot it just ended up coming back over the plate. In a crucial situation, do I think he throws that pitch? Probably not,” Walker said. “But when you haven’t pitched in a big-league game for six or seven days, you expect a bit of rust when you get out there.”
All told, Osuna has pitched just once over the last 11 days, throwing 19 pitches. That stands in stark contrast to the 11 days prior, when he pitched six times and threw 114 pitches. With Blue Jays manager John Gibbons now having other trustworthy options in his bullpen like Chavez, Floyd and Storen, the Blue Jays are hoping to get Osuna onto a more traditional, consistent schedule going forward.
“It was good to get a breather for him, to be honest with you,” Walker says. “I think the workload early on was definitely quite a bit. Not unusual, in this day and age. But for a young pitcher, someone who is obviously a part of our future here, you want to be a little bit careful.”
Of course, there remains room for improvement in this bullpen. The team is still searching for a dependable left-hander while Brett Cecil recovers from a torn latissimus dorsi, with Chad Girodo currently filling the role. He’s been strong at times this season and shaky at others.
And Joe Biagini has taken a step backwards, allowing nine of the last 14 batters he’s faced to reach base. Of course, after Biagini’s incredibly strong start to the season, which saw the 26-year-old Rule 5 draft pick post a 0.86 ERA through his first 21 innings, some regression had to be expected.
Even with his recent struggles, Biagini’s 2016 ERA still stands at a very respectable 2.92. And with so many other relievers performing well at the moment, the Blue Jays have plenty of options to pick up the slack.
“It’s a group effort down there—through good and through bad,” Storen says. “There were some growing pains. But now it feels good. It’s really a great group of guys. We’ve gotten really close.
“And, hey, we’ve all had our ups and downs. But that’s what being a bullpen’s all about. One day somebody’s going to dig somebody else out of something. Or if somebody’s going through a rough stretch, somebody else is going to slide in and take care of that role. Every single guy down there matters. Every single guy helps. We’re all getting more comfortable and consistent as we go. And it’s a really good feeling.”