bullpen issues? YES!

Good GRIEF! Just when I thought I wouldn't have to rant about the bullpen this year, it turns out to be just the opposite. Remember in my last post how I said that "having great stuff" doesn't mean anything if you can't strike out guys consistently? I still hold firm on that belief and I firmly believe that Blue Jays could've won if Cordero had brought his A-Game, not his F-Game. It was a total stunner and a heartbreaker the way the Blue Jays lost, but more importantly they could've swept a first place team for the second time in almost a week! Sifting through Twitter posts via Echofon, I noticed that Cordero was a trending topic with a LOT of posts saying along the lines of how the bullpen needs help and that Cordero should be released.

I can't say I blame those people for saying what they said. Afterall, I probably would've said something along that line or the infamous line from Donald Trump: "You're Fired". The bullpen's got issues. Something I hoped would've been fixed with the addition of Sergio Santos and the emergence of Casey Janssen. Until the bullpen gets back on track, it'll be up to the offence, starting pitching and defence to keep us out of trouble. 

Ups, downs, umpires & more..

Looks like I've missed quite a bit of writing time, but it's safe to say I'm all too well aware of what's been going on with the Jays. As it is, the Jays are in a tie for 4th in the AL East, but 3 GB and if the season were to end today, they'd be 2 games out of the AL Wildcard. 

I suppose you could say that part of what got them in this sticky mess was dropping 2 in Tampa and then being beyond humiliated by the Texas Rangers. Coming home and opening a 6 game homestand vs the Orioles and Boston, however seemed to be pretty much what was much needed. 

Funny enough, it was Hutchinson who helped them get back on track with a dominating performance vs the Orioles and closed the homestand with a stunning performance vs the Red Sox. Who knew that they Jays would have to rely on a total rookie pitcher for that? 

I must admit that I have NOT been a fan of the umpiring ever since the Lawrie incident and more recently, when Henderson Alvarez was tossed from the game for pitching inside to Ian Kinsler with no explanation and as far as I'm concerned, there was no intent to hit Kinsler! 

We're almost 1/3 of the way through the season and we're in for a tough stretch through the month of June, especially with interleague play (which is utterly useless in my mind). I still believe that Lind will return from triple-A vegas and so will Eric Thames. I'm still not totally sold on Snider returning just yet, not because he's injured, but because I don't think he's ready to make the adjustments needed at the major league level. 

I do, however still worry about the bullpen depth and consistency. To me, I could care less if a pitcher in the bullpen has "great stuff and strikeout capabilities". I'm more concerened about them using their stuff consistently and haivng a clean 1-2-3 inning instead of giving up runs and eventually blowing a save! 

Also, for those of you following the Jays on Twitter, here's a list of players you can follow: 

JP Arencibia: @jparencibia9

Ricky Romero: @RickyRo24

Kyle Drabek: @kyledrabek4

Drew Hutchinson: @1DrewHutch

Brandon Morrow: @2Morrow23

Jose Bautista: @JoeyBats19

Eric Thames: @EThames14

Travis Snider: @LunchboxHero45

Casey Janssen: @CaseyJanssen

Brett Lawrie: @blawrie13


Edwin Encarnacion: @Encadwin


Cheers, 
jLau (@jlau87)