Here are three reasons why the Blue Jays should add more bullpen depth this upcoming season.
Injuries and volatility are inevitable
Relievers are volatile due to the nature of relief pitching. With only a few innings left to pitch, relief pitchers can be excellent in one game while sometimes tanking others. This logic applies to managing different seasons; some good relievers can have a great season and then have their worst year.
No team is immune to this rule, and neither are the Blue Jays. There is simply no guarantee that effective relievers can replicate their numbers the following season; it’s simply too difficult to predict how well a reliever will perform in a season until he gets his opportunities on the mound.
After surgery to remove scar tissue in his right elbow last September, Yimi Garcia has been “feeling good and throwing for weeks,” manager John Schneider said. Club will be careful with Garcia’s build-up, but Blue Jays hope he will be ready for opening day.
Another factor that also complicates the bullpens is injuries. Every player has an injury risk, but pitching is one of the most precarious positions when it comes to injuries.
Whether they are in the circle of trust or not, any reliever injury can set a team back a few games. And those few games could cost them their position in the playoff battle.
Safety net for young relievers
Every player, especially a young player, deserves more room for trial and error. By building good reliever depth, young relievers will have a safety net to experiment, reinvent and improve. One team that has done an excellent job of constructing this type of depth is the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Their starting pitching depth stood out the most, but their reliever depth ultimately contributed to their second straight World Series win. When Emmett Sheehan couldn’t perform, Justin Wrobleski stepped up. When Roki Sasaki struggled as a starter, he turned into a fireballing reliever.
This list contains the top 15 best ERAs from the bullpen. Braydon Fisher was really good. Trading Matt Svanson was also probably a bad decision.
The Blue Jays would need more time to build this cushion for young players. But they can still work on identifying good relievers who can be promoted to the major leagues through spring training and identify potential trade targets down the road. The goal is to have as many reliable relievers as possible so that no one is overexposed.
Key to playoff longevity
Having a strong bullpen is important in any situation, and this is even more true in the playoffs. The playoffs are an unpredictable beast. If the starters can’t go deeper into the game, the relievers will have to step up to secure the win. It’s a constant pressure cooker that requires resilience. It’s one of the main reasons why the Jays added Louis Varland and Seranthony Dominguez at the trade deadline.
The Blue Jays learned the hard way that late-inning pitching woes can hurt their playoff trajectory. Not paying close attention to the bullpen all season would be the biggest misstep that could backfire. Toronto’s pitching depth cost them the World Series – now is not the time to get complacent.
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