Chad Jenkins was released last week. Jays’ fans may have recognized his name: he’s been around the Jays for a while, though not especially relevant in their recent history. To those who do not know Jenkins’ name, his career with the Jays can be evaluated as a disappointment. A first-round pick in 2009, Jenkins never quite lived up to that billing, spending parts of four seasons bouncing between AAA and the majors, never doing quite enough to secure a permanent position on the team. In some ways, Jenkins may have been a victim of circumstance: when he was good, he wasn’t good enough to overcome having minor-league options, and once he ran out of options, he wasn’t good enough. Jenkins is also a fun presence on social media, though he’s far from the only Jays player who can claim that.
Even with the Jays’ revolving door of a relief corps this season, Jenkins couldn’t stand out in a crowded bullpen in AAA Buffalo. He only pitched five times in the month of June before being released on June 30th, having recorded an unimpressive 5.16 ERA on the season. With his first round pedigree well in the rear view mirror, it’s unlikely he’ll be missed.
Jenkins was never a primary bullpen option with the Jays. Just good enough to be on the team, but not good enough to get high profile assignments. Multiple innings, getting warmed up and sat down several times over the course of a game, someone who came in when the starter was struggling, or someone who finished eventual losses. His career game log is a master class in low-leverage usage, save for the half-dozen starts he recorded at the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013. The Jays didn’t win a game that Jenkins pitched in relief until 2014. While that’s not necessarily an indictment of his talent, it does speak to what management thought of him. They didn’t think he was good enough. He didn’t strike out a lot of guys, didn’t have eye-popping stuff, was never the best option to come into a game.
On Friday last week, the Jays played a 19 inning game with the Indians, using every pitcher in their bullpen, and two position players to pitch in a heartbreaking loss. This reminded me of Jenkins, and what would likely rate as his most memorable moment with the team- in another 19 inning game, roughly two seasons ago.
Let’s go back to that game, on August 10, 2014, against the Detroit Tigers. It was a very different Jays team that took the field that day. Mark Buehrle started, and bizarrely for Mark Buehrle, only lasted 3.1 innings, leaving the game with the Jays trailing 5-0. With Todd Redmond entering the game, the lineup slightly less formidable than it’s 2016 self (Dioner Navarro hit fifth), and David Price on the hill for the Tigers, things weren’t looking good for the boys in blue.
But then, as happens in baseball, things changed. The Jays got some runs off Price, and Redmond held serve. Aaron Sanchez entered the game in the seventh, and threw three shutout innings. The Jays got the tying run off Joba Chamberlain in the ninth, and they were off to extras. The bullpens were perfect for a while after that, trading pitchers and scoreless innings, until one man was left in the Jays bullpen: Jenkins. In the top of the fourteenth, the Jays’ bullpen opened, Jenkins entered the game, and we all started holding our breaths.
Extra-inning games are already tense, and Jenkins getting into and out of trouble frayed every last nerve for those who were watching. The Tigers had multiple base runners in three innings, even loading the bases with one out in the 16th. But Jenkins held the Tigers down, keeping them off the scoreboard, recording scoreless inning after scoreless inning. Each zero brought a sigh of relief, though the stress came back with each inning that the Jays couldn’t finish it, and Jenkins trotted back out of the dugout. Though Jenkins had been a starter previously, he’d only pitched in relief that season for the Jays. There was no reason to expect he’d last long, but the game kept going, and so did he. The Tigers brought in starter Rick Porcello in the 17th, but the Jays stayed with Jenkins.
Jenkins was visibly tiring in his last couple of innings, and it was only in the 19th that knuckleballer R.A. Dickey made his way out to the vacated space beyond left field, and began to get loose. However, he wouldn’t be needed. Jose Bautista knocked home the winning run in the bottom of the 19th with a single, and Dickey didn’t have to pitch (which he was very happy about, kissing Jose Bautista on the cheek during Bautista’s post-game interview).
Though he was an integral part of the victory, Jenkins didn’t get much more than a pat on the back (and a win) for his efforts. He was sent down to AAA Buffalo a few days later, as the Jays wanted to restock the bullpen with fresh arms. He’d been good enough to win them a game against the Tigers, but not good enough to keep around afterwards. He had options. He was disposable. It was, as it tended to be with Jenkins, the right baseball move, even if it was a bit cruel right after he won the game.
Jenkins only threw just over six more major league innings in his Jays career, and they weren’t as good as the six he completed there. Barring a seismic change in the organization’s perception of Jenkins, it’s unlikely he’ll add to that total here. That’s certainly sad for Jenkins, and sad for those who were a fan of his. Jenkins hasn’t made much of a mark in the majors, and so his release will probably come and go without a lot of fanfare.
But even if Jenkins never gets another major league chance, he was a part of something cool. That an otherwise unremarkable player did something amazing is part of what makes baseball fun. No one expected Jenkins to do what he did in that game. He will always have that one big moment, one game where he was the reason the Jays won, one historic game that he had a huge impact on. As Jenkins moves to the next stop in his baseball career, the game he had is something well worth remembering.
Photo Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Jenkins was optioned to Buffalo six days later after having made one more appearance.
Misremembered, and now, corrected. Thanks!