The Blue Jays were a hot topic in MLB the past few days – and for good reason. The successful trip to the West Coast solidified the club as “contenders” in many pundits’ minds, Doc vs A.J. kicked off the first meeting with the 2009 Yankees and management announced B.J. Ryan would no longer be the closer when he returns from the disabled list. This must have been a good week to be covering the Jays, lots to opine about. For me personally, the most interesting story was Scott Downs taking over as closer.
As much as he probably doesn’t feel comfortable taking his friend’s role, Downs has earned it. He’s become one of the best relievers in baseball over the last couple of seasons and he’s done it with hard work after his career bottomed out after the 2004 season.
Downs missed almost 2.5 seasons after having Tommy John Surgery in 2000 and wasn’t able to put a full season of pitching together until 2004. That year he spent most of the season in AAA but did manage to return to the Expos for a few starts – his first appearance was against Toronto and he pitched awful. Not only were the numbers bad, but his velocity was in the 82-84 MPH range. He stayed in the Montreal rotation for the remainder of the season and pitched inconsistently – which is probably why the Expos released him in November.
For some reason, Scott Downs stuck out in my mind – when he was released, I wanted to sign him. We had poor scouting reports on him, his numbers weren’t great and he pitched poorly against us – but I felt he had a chance to help the Jays. This is why – he’s a lefty, had a good breaking ball and left-handed hitters didn’t seem to get great swings off him. Despite hitting .286 off him in 2004, left-handed hitters only slugged .310 – granted it was a small sample size but it supported the theory. In my mind he had a chance to be a situational lefty in the big leagues – worst case scenario he could provide depth as a starter in the Minors.
So with JP’s approval – I called his agent, Greg Landry, and informed him of our interest. In my conversation with Landry I made him aware of the fact I felt Downs was destined to be a reliever but was willing to give him a chance to be a starter. I knew Downs still wanted to start, and promised his agent we would provide sufficient innings in spring training to show his ability to the staff. Ultimately I offered a Minor League deal, and although there were several teams interested – he chose the Jays because we had opportunity and a plan. Downs showed up in camp with increased velocity and immediately impressed the staff, particularly John Gibbons.
He started 2005 in Syracuse but was called up to stay in May and alternated between relieving and starting for the remainder of the season. Downs essentially became a full-time reliever in 2006 and really started to feel comfortable out of the pen. Sometimes it takes a player awhile to adapt to a new role, once he found his rhythm – he took off. The fact he finally felt comfortable is exactly why he didn’t really warm up to the idea of being a starter this past offseason.
It’s been a long and winding road for Downs but he’s worked hard and committed himself to being a great reliever. He probably never thought he’d one day be a closer – I certainly didn’t when I offered him a minor league deal in 2004 – but he’s earned it. I hope he continues to succeed.