The late innings are no longer where Blue Jays wins go to die. This bullpen has been lights out

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This article was published 23/04/2022 (1626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Blue Jays are winning games they probably would have lost a year ago — at least it sure feels that way — and a bullpen that has continued to shut down opposing lineups deserves the bulk of the credit.

Toronto’s stable of relievers has been nearly flawless to open the season. After Saturday’s 3-2 victory over the Astros in Houston, the Jays improved to 9-0 when leading after seven innings and they’re now 5-1 in one-run ball games. Two telltale signs of a strong ’pen.

Jordan Romano has received most of the praise after going a perfect 8-for-8 in save opportunities, extending his consecutive saves streak to a franchise record 31 along the way, but when he hasn’t been available — like Saturday in Houston — the Jays have managed just fine. One thing this group doesn’t lack is depth.

“They’ve got a great bullpen,” Astros manager Dusty Baker told the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome. “It ain’t that easy to hit.”

For much of last season, who would have expected an opposing manager to say that? The Jays had enough offence to contend, ditto for the starting rotation, but for the bulk of the year there were far too many question marks in the ’pen.

The relief corps got much better midway through last season following trades for Adam Cimber and Trevor Richards, yet disaster struck whenever they weren’t available alongside Tim Mayza and Romano. No lead ever felt safe. And while a 15-15 record in one-run games might not have been the only reason that team missed the post-season, it was certainly a primary factor.

This year has felt completely different. Neither Romano nor Mayza was available to pitch Saturday and it didn’t even matter because Yimi García, Cimber, Ryan Borucki and David Phelps were. It doesn’t stop there. Beyond that group has been another layer of protection in Richards, Julian Merryweather and even Trent Thornton.

The numbers have been impressive. The Jays rank fifth in the American League with a 2.69 ERA. Their walks and hits per inning pitched, at 0.93, trails only the Los Angeles Dodgers while their opponents batting average of .182 is tied for first. There has been a lot of work, but not too much, with 60 1/3 innings, 12th-highest in MLB.

The performance has been night and day from last year, right? Well, not quite. The sheer number of late-inning meltdowns in 2021 gave an impression the bullpen was a train wreck for the entire first half, but most people forget that group got off to a pretty good start, too. In fact, it was even better than what the current bullpen has done so far this season.

Last April, Jays relievers had a 2.52 ERA, which ranked third in the majors. Somehow, some way, the Jays allowed just four runs across 24 innings from Anthony Castro, Tyler Chatwood and Rafael Dolis. Phelps and Merryweather combined to allow just one more over 12 2/3 innings, while Romano did his typical thing late in games. Heck, even Tanner Roark picked up four scoreless frames.

The thing about that early run was, it never seemed sustainable. Chatwood was expected to be a reliable contributor, but guys such as Castro and Joel Payamps were supposed to be roster fillers. Instead, they ended up assuming much larger roles than they should have. When Merryweather and Phelps went down with injuries, their prominence grew and predictably the group fractured.

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That could happen this time, too. A team can only survive so many injuries before it reaches a breaking point, but the Jays should be able to handle at least a few because of their depth. One could argue this team has as many as eight high-leverage arms, far more than most. If one goes down or begins to falter, there is a long line of guys waiting to step in.

The multitude of options that Jays manager Charlie Montoyo has at his disposal was apparent during Saturday’s win, even with an undermanned ’pen. One day after getting five scoreless out of Thornton, Cimber, Mayza and Romano, the Jays got three more out of Phelps, Borucki and García, while Cimber pitched on back-to-back days to pick up his first save.

The bullpen numbers are similar to a year ago, but this season it seems much more realistic to expect the strong performances to continue. This group has a mix of solid track records and upside; for long stretches, last year’s group didn’t have much of either.

Leading into opening day, the Jays’ strengths were supposed to be offence and starting pitching. A couple of weeks in and the bullpen has made a case it should be considered an asset as well. The season is too young to know for sure, but if it is, the rest of the AL East might not stand a chance.

Gregor Chisholm is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @GregorChisholm or reach him via email: gchisholm@thestar.ca