DUNEDIN, Fla. — Have you ever waited in line endlessly to renew a driver’s licence? Filed a passport application and been left in limbo for weeks? Applied for some sort of governmental permit and encountered a confusing mess of red tape and bureaucracy?
Then you can relate to the situation Seung-hwan Oh is currently experiencing. A delayed work visa is preventing the recently-signed reliever from making a spring training debut for his new team, and no one seems to have a good handle on when the matter will be sorted.
“I’m really not sure yet,” Oh said through his translator, Eugene Koo. “I’m still waiting for the final result.”
So, while Oh can’t get into actual games, his pitching coach is doing everything he can to create game-like scenarios. That’s what happened Friday morning, when Pete Walker asked a small group of Toronto Blue Jays hitters — Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki and Kendrys Morales — to step in the box and take some cuts against Oh as he threw a 30-pitch live bullpen session off the mound at Dunedin Stadium.
“He was excited to get out there today. He’s chomping at the bit to pitch, that’s for sure,” Walker said. “I’ll try to keep him moving.”
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Oh will continue to toss live bullpens every two or three days against Blue Jays hitters until his visa issue is worked out. An actual game will provide a truer test, but Marcus Stroman, who watched Friday’s session from behind the batting cage, was certainly impressed with Oh’s stuff. Stroman raved about the way the 35-year-old Korean varied his slider. And Walker agreed.
“The arm action looked great,” Walker said. “A lot of life on the ball. And the slider looked outstanding.”
That’s particularly good news for the Blue Jays, as Oh’s slider was the primary reason behind his struggles with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017.
While his velocity and pitch usage remained essentially unchanged from his tremendous 2016 (1.92 ERA, 11.6 K/9) to his not-so-great 2017 (4.10 ERA, 8.2 K/9), it was a sharp decline in Oh’s swinging strike rate, and a dramatic increase in his contact allowed, that contributed to his struggles.
A big part of those issues was Oh’s tendency to leave his slider on the plate, instead of burying it like he did the year prior. Here’s where Oh’s sliders ended up in 2016 versus 2017.
See? And that led to a big difference when it comes to his success with the pitch.
| Sliders thrown | AVG | SLG | ISO | Swing and miss % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 407 | .164 | .246 | .082 | 26.50% |
| 2017 | 299 | .280 | .430 | .151 | 15.40% |
“I think it definitely was some misses with that slider on the plate,” Walker said. “He’s got to utilize the edges a little bit more with that slider. I think he got hurt with that pitch. It comes down to command and feeling good. And he says he feels great, so we’re anxious to get him out there and get him in the game.”
Waiting game continues for Stroman
Speaking of Stroman, the starter will continue to be sidelined for another two or three days as the Blue Jays look to be as cautious as possible with the inflammation he’s been battling in his right shoulder.
Walker and the Blue Jays coaching staff are currently devising a throwing program Stroman will complete from the time he gets back on the mound through to the end of camp. Whether that results in Stroman being ready for the beginning of the season, or beginning the year on the disabled list, remains to be seen.
“Obviously, he’s anxious to get back out there,” Walker said. “But we’re going to be extra smart here and make sure he’s ready to go. If it’s the start of the season, great. If it’s a week or two behind, then so be it.”
Bullpen battle continues
The competition for the final spots in the Blue Jays bullpen is ongoing, and will be for the rest of camp, but front-runners are slowly emerging. Two veteran names to keep an eye on: John Axford and Al Alburquerque.
The 34-year-old Axford, in camp on a minor-league deal, has thrown only one inning thus far, a scoreless frame against the New York Yankees on Tuesday. But in side sessions he’s been implementing a sinker and working to tighten his slider, which has impressed Toronto’s coaching staff.
Alburquerque has made three appearances, allowing only two hits and a walk while striking out five. The 31-year-old is working to throw his fastball with more sink, as the Blue Jays feel the flatness of his four-seamer has burned him in the past.
The idea is if Alburquerque can throw a more effective fastball, he can rely on his slider less than he has to this point in his career. In 2015 — Alburquerque’s most recent full season in the majors with Detroit — he used his slider 56.2 per cent of the time while pitching to a 4.21 ERA over 62 innings.
“And I think his slider looks tremendous,” Walker said. “But maybe a little more of a balance out of him, instead of predominantly sliders, will help him a lot.”
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Right-hander Luis Santos, who has allowed only a walk over three innings pitched, has been impressing as well. As has Tim Mayza, who’s thrown two scoreless frames.
Meanwhile, Carlos Ramirez — who started his 2017 in double-A and finished it in the majors, putting up a 47.2-inning streak without allowing an earned run in the process — is being backed off due to soreness. He’s allowed three runs on four hits (two of them home runs) in his two spring appearances thus far.
“He was struggling a little bit,” Walker said. “He was missing a little bit. And maybe overthrowing. We want to make sure he’s feeling good, number one. And then making sure he’s getting back into his delivery and doing the things he can do.”
The Blue Jays plan to continue evaluating bullpen arms through the middle of March before beginning to move towards making roster decisions. That’s good news for any relievers who have struggled up to this point.
“I always tell these guys — in spring training, you have one tough outing and they’re concerned about making a team. And they think it’s a make-or-break outing. It’s not,” Walker said. “We just want to see them get out there four, five, six times and then start really assessing.”
