It hasn’t taken very long for the Toronto Blue Jays to patch up a leaky bullpen. Since July 25 the team has added Aaron Sanchez, LaTroy Hawkins, and Mark Lowe to their relief core, stabilizing a unit that had serious struggles holding leads earlier in the year.
Even with Lowe’s shaky debut, the Blue Jays have gotten strong performances from their relievers lately as the group has posted a 2.16 ERA in 50 innings since the All-Star break.
Amidst the excitement about the new additions, the solid work by the incumbents in recent days has been downplayed. In particular, Liam Hendriks has been outstanding.
The last time the Australian allowed a hit was July 8. Since then he’s retired 23 of 24 batters, striking out 10 of them. While that bubble is certain to burst at some point, it does highlight Hendriks’ quiet excellence all year.
With very little fanfare he’s amassed 1.1 Wins Above Replacement, tied for 14th-best among MLB relievers. It’s hard to believe considering how little was expected of him prior to the season.
Hendriks came to camp as one of many long relievers and fought with Todd Redmond and Chad Jenkins for a job in the bullpen. Even when he made the opening day roster it was widely assumed he was there in part because he was out of options.
In the four months since, the Blue Jays have seen him become better than ever.
| Time Period | Wins | Losses | K% | BB% | Ground ball% | ERA | FIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-14 | 3 | 15 | 14.5% | 6.3% | 40.1% | 5.92 | 5.05 |
| 2015 | 3 | 0 | 26.1% | 3.3% | 46.4% | 2.53 | 2.13 |
Hendriks has only pitched 46.1 innings, but this is a rare case where it’s not fair to expect a regression to his career norms. Prior to 2015, Hendriks was almost exclusively a starter whereas this year he has remade himself as a reliever. The name on the back of the jersey is the same but the arsenal is very different.
The most important change has been the velocity he’s gained on his fastball. Hendriks previously worked in the lower 90’s and relied on his command to survive. Not so this season.
Velocity isn’t everything, but the change here is pretty significant. By transitioning to the bullpen Hendriks has become a power pitcher overnight.
The way his improved fastball is affecting batters is observable. For example, Hendriks has made hitters lose their bats swinging at his fastball twice this year. Early in the season he sent Rene Rivera’s bat flying on a pure whiff.
Kyle Seager of the Mariners managed to at least make contact when losing his bat, but it was still a less-than-elegant attempt.
These just aren’t the kind of swings Hendriks elicited with his fastball when he was a starter. It’s not a surprise he’s getting opposing hitters to swing and miss on the pitch more than ever before.
It follows that he’s allowing a lower batting average against on his fastball as well.
Throwing harder hasn’t been the only factor in the improvement Hendriks has shown. He’s shown an impressive diving slider that has made him a nightmare for right-handed hitters like Atlanta Braves outfielder Jonny Gomes.
It’s the same pitch he turned to in order to strike out Xander Bogaerts and escape a bases-loaded jam against the Red Sox.
Not only is the pitch hard to hit, when it’s put in the play the result is a ground ball almost 60 percent of the time. The fastball-slider combo has just been too much for right-handers who have managed to hit a meagre .149/.189/.180 against Hendriks.
The downside of featuring those two pitches for the 26-year-old is that he’s given up a more robust .282/.315/.408 line to left-handed batters who are far less susceptible to the slider.
Even with his struggles against left-handers he has been the second-most consistent reliever on the team behind Roberto Osuna.
Hendriks’ role is likely to shrink with the additions of Hawkins, Lowe, and Sanchez. Even so, he’s worthy of a little recognition.
