Blue Jays takeaways: Bullpen in crisis throws away series opener in Boston

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This article was published 11/06/2021 (1619 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The view from Deep Left Field on the Blue Jays’ 6-5 loss to the Red Sox in Boston on Friday night:

For the first six weeks of this season, Tyler Chatwood was the best pitcher in the Blue Jays’ bullpen. Through 16 outings he had posted a minuscule ERA of just 0.53, with 24 strikeouts against only five walks in 17 innings. He was virtually untouchable.

He’s been pretty untouchable in the six outings since then, as well, but for an entirely different reason. The righty is in the midst of pulling one of the biggest Jekyll-and-Hyde acts that has ever been seen, having gone from ultra-dominant reliever to a guy who just plain can’t throw a strike.

Over the course of what one hopes is just a six-game blip, Chatwood has faced 33 hitters and retired only 12. There have been an unsightly 10 walks and two hit batters to go with nine hits. He’s allowed opposition hitters a .429 batting average and an unbelievable .636 on-base percentage.

Chatwood provided a glimmer of hope Wednesday night in Chicago, picking up the win with a perfect sixth inning against the middle of the White Sox’s order.

That outing, combined with how well he’d pitched early in the season and the absolute dearth of reliable arms in the Jays’ bullpen, was enough for manager Charlie Montoyo to give the nine-year veteran the ball on Friday night in Boston with the Blue Jays up 5-2, two out in the sixth inning and the bottom of the Red Sox order coming to the plate.

And once again, Chatwood didn’t have it.

He threw a first-pitch strike to Christian Arroyo, then hit him with the next pitch to load the bases.

Chatwood walked Marwin Gonzalez on four pitches to force in a run, and his 2-and-0 pitch to the next batter, Bobby Dalbec, went to the backstop to score another.

He finally threw a strike, then hit Dalbec with the 3-and-1 pitch to reload the bases. Having faced the three-batter minimum, Chatwood was taken out and Tim Mayza got a ground ball to preserve what had become a one-run lead for the time being.

Carl Edwards Jr. coughed up that lead when Arroyo took him deep in the eighth, and the Jays lost it in the ninth.

Every game that is lost because of a bullpen meltdown is like a dagger, and there have been so many of them in the past three weeks, starting in Boston back on May 20 when the Red Sox, just as they did Friday night, beat Rafael Dolis with a ninth-inning rally.

The Jays bullpen is screaming out to be improved. Injured high-leverage arms Kirby Yates and David Phelps aren’t going to pitch again this year and Julian Merryweather isn’t coming back from his oblique injury in the very near future.

How can Montoyo keep giving the ball to Chatwood? I don’t think he can any more after Friday night, at least not unless the Jays are up five or down five, until Chatwood either gets his form back or runs out of chances — and the clock is ticking — but the alternatives to Chatwood are Dolis and maybe Jordan Romano, who wasn’t available Friday with forearm tightness, which always sound scary. After that, it’s a bunch of pitchers who have either been claimed on waivers or recently designated for assignment.

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The trade market hasn’t started bubbling yet. While the Tampa Bay Rays did pick up a couple of good-looking young arms in trade recently, they had to give up their starting shortstop to do it, and even with that didn’t get a proven, high-leverage reliever.

That leaves the minor leagues, where the Jays seem committed to having Thomas Hatch and Nate Pearson develop as starters. Both could help the team immediately out of the bullpen, but clearly things haven’t gone off the rails enough to try that yet.

So then there’s Patrick Murphy. The young righty with the triple-digit fastball got a taste of the majors last season and was hurt this spring. He’s back and pitching out of the bullpen in Triple-A with mixed success, but you’d have to imagine he’s next out of the chute.

The Jays are all but out of options with their bullpen, and the schedule isn’t easing up soon enough for them to keep running the same crew out there to try to maintain ties or protect leads. It’s just not working, and the rest of the team deserves a better chance.

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness