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Blue Jays' return to normalcy will throw struggling veterans into the fire

More than anything, the return of Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki on Friday signaled that the Toronto Blue Jays are getting closer to ending their roster churn and settling in for summer.

This is most obvious in the batting order where manager John Gibbons gets to write two more all-stars into an increasingly long lineup, but it has a ripple effect down the roster. Now a bench that had been a two- or three-man group becomes a stronger four-man unit. Consequently, a bullpen that has been as bulky as 10 arms is getting leaner.

Until the team needs its Tuesday starter they can carry an eight-man pen, but then it’s back to the customary seven for the first time in weeks. That’s the sign of a solidifying roster, but for the Blue Jays it comes with one potential stumbling block: exposing Jason Grilli and J.P. Howell.

Both Grilli and Howell are off to awful starts to their respective seasons. The duo has combined for 19.2 innings of 7.78 ERA ball this year — good for -0.7 Wins Above Replacement. Opponents are hitting .270/.361/.587 off Grilli and .333/.481/.667 off Howell.

When the team was carrying excess relievers, Gibbons was able to hide the pair and use them almost exclusively in mop-up duty. In May they’ve combined for just 9.2 innings of work — less than any of Ryan Tepera, Danny Barnes, Aaron Loup, Dominic Leone or Joe Smith have logged individually. Soon they will be called upon to take on bigger roles as Gibbons can’t run his other five bullpen arms into the ground.

“Everybody’s got to pitch, no doubt about that. We’ll pick our spots,” the manager said of the situation. “Guys have kind of fallen into place in certain roles, but they all need to pitch.”

Prior to the season, the idea of finding innings for Grilli and Howell would have seemed silly. Grilli was locked in as the primary setup man and Howell was the go-to lefty. A couple of months into the season that has certainly changed, although not enough time has passed to write them off completely.

The Toronto Blue Jays’ bullpen will be in trouble if it can’t get a few productive innings out of Jason Grilli and J.P. Howell. (Frank Gunn/CP)
The Toronto Blue Jays’ bullpen will be in trouble if it can’t get a few productive innings out of Jason Grilli and J.P. Howell. (Frank Gunn/CP)

Grilli has held opponents off the board in six of his last seven and is still striking out more than a batter per inning. For as bad as Howell’s looked, ultimately he’s only tossed 4.2 innings.

“Grilli is starting to get on track much better,” Gibbons said. “Howell is the one guy who really hasn’t had much opportunity. But he’s still going to need to pitch or you’re going to end up killing other guys.”

Neither pitcher is likely ticketed for high-leverage work in the near future, but they can both expect a workload boost — there’s simply nowhere to hide two guys in a seven-man bullpen. The Blue Jays’ top guys also are going to need a break considering the heavy workload the team’s rotation issues create and the abundance of close contests early in the year.

“We’ve played a lot of tight games. That’s what catches up with you,” Gibbons said. “Really for any team to be successful you need all 25 guys.”

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