ARLINGTON, Texas – The Toronto Blue Jays faced a decision Wednesday night: take Dalton Pompey on their ALDS roster and risk running low on pitching or carry extra arms at the expense of their best pinch runner.
In a surprising move the Blue Jays decided to leave Pompey off of their roster and carry relievers Scott Feldman, Aaron Loup and Ryan Tepera for their playoff series against the Texas Rangers. Manager John Gibbons reasoned that the additional pitching will allow the Blue Jays to preserve their top relievers instead of burning them in low-leverage spots.
“If we get into a game and you’re down, there are certain guys you don’t want to have to pitch just to pitch them, too,” Gibbons said. “Having that base-runner is a luxury.”
Pompey was a difference-making pinch runner in the 2015 postseason and again down the stretch in 2016. “We’d love to have him but we couldn’t afford to,” Gibbons said.
The Blue Jays were particularly motivated to carry additional relievers because the status of Roberto Osuna remains unclear. Gibbons said the 21-year-old closer’s shoulder feels “much better” Thursday, but added that the Blue Jays still have to be cautious with him, “because you never know for sure.” Given that Joaquin Benoit has a torn calf and Osuna’s not yet at full strength, the Blue Jays don’t have as much relief depth as they’d hoped.
To compensate for some of the innings that Benoit and Osuna might otherwise pitch, Gibbons will ask Francisco Liriano to pitch “some really important innings later in the game.” That means he won’t necessarily be available in long relief, which motivated the Blue Jays to add Feldman to the roster.
Even so, there’s a case to be made that the Blue Jays would have had enough relief pitching if they had taken Pompey. Toronto’s starting rotation logged 995.1 innings during the regular season, leading MLB. Scheduled days off Saturday and Tuesday will provide relievers plenty of rest. Even if they’d carried Pompey, the Blue Jays would have had room for seven relievers, the same number they carried for most of the regular season.
The Blue Jays’ complete roster includes 12 pitchers, including eight relievers:
Starting pitchers (4): Marco Estrada, J.A. Happ, Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Stroman
Relief pitchers (8): Roberto Osuna, Jason Grilli, Brett Cecil, Joe Biagini, Francisco Liriano, Ryan Tepera, Aaron Loup, Scott Feldman
Catchers (2): Russell Martin, Dioner Navarro
Infielders (6): Edwin Encarnacion, Justin Smoak, Devon Travis, Darwin Barney, Troy Tulowitzki, Josh Donaldson
Outfielders (5): Jose Bautista, Kevin Pillar, Michael Saunders, Melvin Upton Jr., Ezequiel Carrera
Ryan Goins was also removed from the wild card roster to create space for starters J.A. Happ and Aaron Sanchez.
If a pinch running situation arises with Melvin Upton Jr. on the bench, the Blue Jays would call on him. That said, they aren’t going to save Upton for that purpose alone.
“He’d be the ideal guy for that,” Gibbons said. “Sometimes you may save somebody for something that may not even happen and it may cost you getting to that point.”
One way or another the Blue Jays were going to have to leave potentially valuable players off of their roster. This time, the Blue Jays’ decision to build up their bullpen means Pompey will be watching the action from the dugout.