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	<title>Toronto &#187; Pat Venditte</title>
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	<description>Comprehensive coverage of the Toronto Blue Jays</description>
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		<title>How Well Has Toronto Been Using the 25th Roster Spot?</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/06/24/how-well-has-toronto-been-using-the-25th-roster-spot/</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Jun 2016 11:53:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mike Passador]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aaron Loup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chad Girodo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dustin Antolin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jimmy Paredes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pat Venditte]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ryan Tepera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scott Diamond]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=4078</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Toronto’s recent series against the Philadelphia Phillies saw the appearance of a familiar face: Jimmy Paredes. The Blue Jays claimed Paredes off waivers from the Orioles on May 16, only to designate him for assignment on the 30th and ship him to Philadelphia on June 1st. After notching a .886 OPS in his 17 Blue [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Toronto’s recent series against the Philadelphia Phillies saw the appearance of a familiar face: Jimmy Paredes. The Blue Jays claimed Paredes off waivers from the Orioles on May 16, only to designate him for assignment on the 30<sup>th</sup> and ship him to Philadelphia on June 1<sup>st</sup>. After notching a .886 OPS in his 17 Blue Jay at bats, Paredes was traded for cash considerations. When Paredes stepped to the plate, Pat Tabler lamented that the team had to let him go and referred to the notion that the Jays ‘just didn’t have room for him.’</p>
<p>With apologies to Mr. Tabler, that’s a statement that didn’t quite sit well at first. It seems like the Blue Jays often have a frustratingly short bench and a bullpen that has one guy who never gets enough work in. While that makes for simple math, it’s something I wanted to investigate. Who have the Jays been using in their final roster spot and were their performances more valuable than Paredes’ admittedly short stint of production?</p>
<p>On the offensive side of the equation Paredes seemed to fill a need for the Jays, who could probably use a bench bat considering the current options, regardless of how adequately some of those players have performed so far. With a usual bench of Josh Thole, Ryan Goins, Darwin Barney, and Ezequiel Carrera (now Darrell Ceciliani), pinch hitting late in games seems futile beyond the instances where Edwin Encarnacion starts at first base and pushes Justin Smoak to the bench.</p>
<p>A jack of all trades and a master of none, Paredes can play around the infield as well as in the outfield but is generally a subpar defender no matter where you put him. His defensive deficiencies definitely didn’t help his case, but the team can probably afford to carry a bad defender who will be limited to mostly pinch hitting duties. If you were to pinch hit for, say Darwin Barney, you could get Paredes an at bat and then insert Ryan Goins (or more likely Devon Travis, assuming full health) into the game defensively.</p>
<p>Since the team is insistent on carrying four middle infielders when at full health, we can assume that the final bench spot was sacrificed so the team could add another reliever to the mix. Looking at this season’s end-of-bench hitters (chronologically by call-up date) shows just three players who haven’t performed well in limited at bats, Paredes excepted:</p>
<p style="text-align: center"><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/25thHitters.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-4079 aligncenter" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/25thHitters.jpg" alt="25thHitters" width="718" height="154" /></a></p>
<p>It’s unfair to ask anyone to try and hit major league pitching right away, especially when they’re given less than one plate appearance for each day spent with the big club. Additionally, the recent AAA assignment of Andy Burns marked the first time this season that a position player was not sent down to bring up a pitcher, as the activated Troy Tulowitzki took Burns’ spot on the roster. It’s clear that the Jays view Dominguez and Burns as insurance policies more than anything and getting them at bats is not one of the team’s primary goals. While it’s nice to have guys who can step in in case of injury, the Blue Jays could attempt to maximize their bench output in the meantime by having a legitimate pinch hitting threat.</p>
<p>With that in mind it’s pretty obvious that the team likes to call on relievers more often than not. The Jays typically run a seven man bullpen but will occasionally carry eight relievers, much to the chagrin of some fans, myself obviously included. When the team brings up an eighth reliever, there is usually simple logic to follow that rationalizes the move. They could be trying to bring up additional arms to get their usual guys some extra rest. They could be calling up certain pitchers for matchup purposes; like if a lefty heavy lineup is on the horizon. And finally, if the bullpen’s current members aren’t up to snuff, they could simply be trying a new solution.</p>
<p>The strong performance of Toronto’s rotation points to conflicting notions about the rest idea. The starters are more often than not only leaving 6-9 outs for the bullpen to record, which is good for the collective bullpen but probably puts undue stress on the top relievers. While the Jays would like to ease the burden on their trusted arms, no single reliever should be too overworked. Given the general mediocrity (though thankfully upward trend) of most of the Blue Jay relievers, the final spot has also served as a revolving door for different pitchers to show that they can stick with the big club.</p>
<p>The list of names hasn’t been all that inspiring, but having an effective mop up guy could pay off later. Everyone would take one step up the ladder, so pitchers like Jesse Chavez and Gavin Floyd will handle fewer low leverage innings and are better rested for situations that call for quality pitchers. In essence, a quality 7<sup>th</sup> reliever takes away an inning that would otherwise be wasted on superior pitchers. Given Roberto Osuna’s nagging ailments this year, the team has to be aching for some extra depth to both save arms and elevate top performers. So how have those alternatives looked?</p>
<p style="text-align: center"><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/25thPitchers.jpg"><img class="  aligncenter wp-image-4080" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/25thPitchers.jpg" alt="25thPitchers" width="449" height="168" /></a></p>
<p>As you can see, the results have been underwhelming so far. Rather than look at the season as a whole, I broke down each reliever’s numbers by their specific stretch with the Blue Jays.</p>
<p><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/PitcherStints.jpg"><img class="  wp-image-4081 aligncenter" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/PitcherStints.jpg" alt="PitcherStints" width="817" height="295" /></a></p>
<p>On the whole, the last reliever on the roster is used in low leverage situations (by aLI), with the only exception being Ryan Tepera’s shrimp game in San Francisco. Even then, John Gibbons only called on Tepera because every other pitcher had been used aside from Roberto Osuna, who had pitched the previous two games. That low leverage use is ideal and accomplishes the goals outlined above concerning resting superior pitchers in less important situations, but it does raise the question of whether this rotating cast of characters is worth keeping over an extra bench bat considering they pitch so infrequently.</p>
<p>Aside from extended and ongoing stints by Chad Girodo and Aaron Loup’s 19 days on the roster, the bullpen call-ups might appear once per series. Tepera and Pat Venditte both had more than six days off at one point or another, and if the team really wants to give their high leverage guys an inning off every once in a while they certainly would be using these bottom bullpen players more often. So for the longer stints (we’ll deal with the one game guys in a moment), just how long do these pitchers get to show their stuff?</p>
<p>The average stint is just shy of 10 days, and shrinks to just over eight when we remove Girodo’s abnormally long outlier stint. If we also remove Aaron Loup’s run on the roster, operating under the assumption that he was expected to be a permanent member of the bullpen, it drops to just over seven days. These relievers spend about a week with the Jays and appear once or twice.</p>
<p>As for the pitchers who only made one appearance, they have all been used fairly ideally with the exception of Tepera’s necessary involvement in San Francisco:</p>
<p style="text-align: center"><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/1GamePitchers.jpg"><img class="  wp-image-4082 aligncenter" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/1GamePitchers.jpg" alt="1GamePitchers" width="636" height="395" /></a></p>
<p>Most of them took the mound in mop up duty during long stretches without an off day. If you want to give someone a chance to get work in, that’s the time to do it. For context, I looked at the amount of unique pitchers that Gibbons had called on over the previous two games. Two games was chosen as the cutoff simply because Gibbons often won’t use a pitcher on three consecutive nights. Aside from Tepera’s 13<sup>th</sup> inning outing, each other appearance came after five or six pitchers had seen action in the last two days. Beyond that, most of these damage control outings helped save a handful of more valuable pitchers from wasting innings in games that were all but over.</p>
<p>To sum it up, given the infrequent usage of the seventh man of the bullpen, there is almost never a reason to summon an eighth pitcher from Buffalo. That final spot would almost always be better spent on an extra bench bat. While having a player like Paredes around doesn’t guarantee John Gibbons would find him playing time, it seems like the last bullpen option has fewer opportunities to make an impact on the game. If anything, having both Barney and Goins on the roster makes having a pinch hitting specialist all the more palatable, especially late in games.</p>
<p>The team has actually done well to take a look at a few different pitchers this season in a Seventh Man role and while none have stuck so far, the Jays at least have an idea of what they’re working with. It might behoove the team to just give the spot to Loup, Girodo or Venditte and let them run with it in regular work, but there’s no harm in trying to get different pitchers acclimated to major league hitters in low leverage innings, especially earlier in the year. The negatives only truly arise when two spots are spent on players who appear infrequently at the expense of potential offensive upgrades. While the Blue Jays have tended to favor the safety net of a big bullpen, it might be time to think about the opportunity cost of doing so.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photos: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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		<title>Devon Travis to Be Activated From Disabled List</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/05/25/devon-travis-is-back-from-the-disabled-list/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/05/25/devon-travis-is-back-from-the-disabled-list/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 May 2016 18:09:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Gideon Turk]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Devon Travis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pat Venditte]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=3070</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It has been three hundred and two days since Devon Travis was placed on the disabled list at the end of July with a mystery shoulder injury. Today, he is making his return. Source: #BlueJays calling up Devon Travis today. @MLBNetwork &#8212; Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) May 25, 2016 Travis, 25, has been on a rehab stint [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It has been three hundred and two days since Devon Travis was placed on the disabled list at the end of July with a mystery shoulder injury. Today, he is making his return.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a> calling up Devon Travis today. <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork">@MLBNetwork</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) <a href="https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/735528147748167680">May 25, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Travis, 25, has been on a rehab stint in the Blue Jays minor league system over the past few weeks, and has had success in his limited appearances. In four games with Dunedin, he hit .357/.375/.500, while in five games with Buffalo, he hit .273/.273/.364. In 2015, he broke out in his rookie season with the Blue Jays, hitting .304/.361/.498 with eight home runs in 62 games. On top of that, he provided the Blue Jays with steady defense at second base, something he wasn&#8217;t known for as a prospect. He routinely made tough plays with ease, but most importantly, his double play turns were smooth and efficient.</p>
<p>It was a long road to recovery for Travis, as after the initial treatment failed, an exploratory surgery found that one of the four growth plates of the acromion bone near the shoulder failed to fuse while he was developing, causing him to feature &#8220;an extra bone&#8221;. Travis then underwent surgery in November to fuse the plates, which forced him out of baseball related activities for more than four months. Since then, he has worked tirelessly to get to this day.</p>
<p>Travis will now presumably slide back into his starting role with the Blue Jays, replacing Darwin Barney, who will likely move to the bench. The odd man out in this scenario would be Ryan Goins, who has struggled mightily in 2016, and has even lost starts against right handed pitching. However, this can all change if Troy Tulowitzki needs to go on the disabled list after aggravating his right leg in Tuesday night&#8217;s game against the Yankees.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see where Travis bats in the lineup, but one would expect it to be near the bottom to begin with, as the top two thirds of the lineup seems pretty set at this point.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE 2:16 PM</strong></p>
<p>Well, it isn&#8217;t Tulowitzki going to the disabled list, or Goins being optioned. It&#8217;s Pat Venditte.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Devon Travis recalled. Pat Venditte optioned. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Barry Davis (@SNBarryDavis) <a href="https://twitter.com/SNBarryDavis/status/735535033642024960">May 25, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>This move likely signifies that Tulowitzki is still a bit sore from yesterday and is day-to-day, hence the need to go down to a six man bullpen for the time being. Although it would be nice for the six man bullpen to stay for a while longer, it is probably only going to be around for a few days, before LHP Aaron Loup is ready to return from his rehab stint. Once Loup is ready to return and Tulo is feeling 100%, Goins should be optioned to work on his approach at the plate. Batting .148/.197/.235 with a 12 wRC+ just doesn&#8217;t cut it in the major leagues, and he has deserved to lose his spot on this roster.</p>
<p>All in all, this is great news. The Blue Jays need offense, and Devon Travis has shown the ability to provide a spark when needed. Although this might not solve <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/05/25/the-blue-jays-hitters-need-to-adjust-to-adjustments/" target="_blank">all of their offensive woes</a>, it will add one more potent bat to the lineup, and that is always a good thing.</p>
<p>Welcome back, Devo.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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		<title>Artificial Turf Wars Ep. 7: Starters, Small Samples, and Switching Splits</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/04/15/artificial-turf-wars-ep-6-blue-jays/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/04/15/artificial-turf-wars-ep-6-blue-jays/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Apr 2016 10:15:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Artifical Turf Wars]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Podcast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aaron Sanchez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Artificial Turf Wars]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Do-Over]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[J.A. Happ]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jose Bautista]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Josh Donaldson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marco Estrada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marcus Stroman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pat Venditte]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Starting Pitching]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=1531</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Greg and Josh discuss the noteworthy stories from the last week of games for the Blue Jays, with a focus on the exemplary work of the starting rotation, the slugging of Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista, and the call up of switch-pitcher Pat Venditte. They also take a humorous look at some early season statistics, [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Greg and Josh discuss the noteworthy stories from the last week of games for the Blue Jays, with a focus on the exemplary work of the starting rotation, the slugging of Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista, and the call up of switch-pitcher Pat Venditte. They also take a humorous look at some early season statistics, and discuss the firing of VP of Business Stephen Brooks. Finally, the guys answer some listener questions, give a Do-Over to Pat Tabler, and discuss how important &#8220;roles&#8221; are to relievers.</p>
<p><strong>Podcast</strong>: <a class="powerpress_link_pinw" title="Play in New Window" href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/btr.shows/8/694/show_8694031_2016_04_15_04_31_48.mp3" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Play in new window</a> | <a class="powerpress_link_d" title="Download" href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/btr.shows/8/694/show_8694031_2016_04_15_04_31_48.mp3" rel="nofollow">Download</a></p>
<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/blue-jays-plus-podcast/id705699884?mt=2"><img class="alignnone wp-image-63" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/03/itunes1.png" alt="itunes" width="125" height="46" /></a></p>
<p>Follow the guys on twitter: <a title="@coolhead2010" href="https://twitter.com/coolhead2010" target="_blank">@coolhead2010</a>, <a title="@JoshuaHowsam" href="https://twitter.com/JoshuaHowsam" target="_blank">@JoshuaHowsam</a> and <a title="@CWSherwin" href="https://twitter.com/CWSherwin" target="_blank">@CWSherwin</a></p>
<p>Intro music is Slow Burn (<a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/" rel="cc:attributionURL">Kevin MacLeod</a>) under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" rel="license">CC BY 3.0</a>.</p>
<div><strong>Podcast Email</strong>-<a href="mailto:artificialturfwars@baseballprospectus.com" target="_blank">artificialturfwars@baseballprospectus.com</a> Please drop us a line if there is a guest you&#8217;d particularly like us to interview, to submit a question to <strong>Stump the Josh</strong>, or to simply give us feedback on the podcast. We&#8217;d love to hear from you!</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Recap: Blue Jays 7, Yankees 2; Turns Out They Can Score Late</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/04/13/recap-blue-jays-7-yankees-2-turns-out-they-can-score-late/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 14 Apr 2016 02:32:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Molly Tissenbaum]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recaps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[J.A. Happ]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pat Venditte]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ryan Goins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yankees]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=1462</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[J.A. Happ put together a quality start tonight throwing six innings, giving up seven hits, and only one run to the Yankees. He was helped along to the win by Ryan Goins, who got the offense going tonight; going 3 for 4 with two RBIs. In his first at bat he hit a double to [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>J.A. Happ put together a quality start tonight throwing six innings, giving up seven hits, and only one run to the Yankees. He was helped along to the win by Ryan Goins, who got the offense going tonight; going 3 for 4 with two RBIs. In his first at bat he hit a double to right center field that scored Russell Martin from first base. Goins continued knock the ball around the ball park with another double in the 5th inning, and finished his night with an RBI single in the 8th inning. For the first time this season, the Blue Jays offense looked dangerous putting up a double digit hit total, with contributions from both the top and bottom of the lineup. The Blue Jays led the Yankees 3-1 until the 8th inning, when the Yankees got within a run. However, the Blue Jays answered back with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, breaking the game open in convincing fashion.</p>
<h3>Top Play of the Game by WPA</h3>
<p>In the 5th inning, Ryan Goins smacked his second double of the night, (+.133 WPA) sending Justin Smoak from first to third after reaching on a walk. Smoak came around to score on the next play, a throwing error by Ronald Torreyes.</p>
<h3>Bottom Play of the Game by WPA</h3>
<p>I the third inning, Austin Romine lined out to first base and Ronald Torreyes was double up at second. (-.087 WPA) snuffing out the start of a Yankee rally.</p>
<h3>The Blue Jays Can Score Late</h3>
<p>To say that the Blue Jays have had an uneven run distribution this season is a supreme understatement. Prior to tonight, this is how their runs scored by inning looked.</p>
<table style="background-color: #ffffff;border-collapse: collapse;border: 1px solid #000000;color: #000000;width: 100%" border="1" cellspacing="3" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<h4 style="text-align: center">Inning</h4>
</td>
<td style="text-align: center">
<h4>Runs</h4>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center">7</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">2</td>
<td style="text-align: center">0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">3</td>
<td style="text-align: center">8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">4</td>
<td style="text-align: center">12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">5</td>
<td style="text-align: center">1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">6</td>
<td style="text-align: center">0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">7</td>
<td style="text-align: center">0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">8</td>
<td style="text-align: center">3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">9</td>
<td style="text-align: center">0</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>From innings six to nine, the Blue Jays had combined for three runs, all season. However, that all changed tonight. As mentioned earlier, the team broke open for four runs in the 8th, more than they had scored in innings six to nine all season. Is there a reason for it? Almost certainly not, but it&#8217;ll be nice to see this squad make a few more exciting late inning comebacks as the season goes on.</p>
<h3>Up Next</h3>
<p>The Blue Jays and Yankees are back at it tomorrow night at 7:07 pm. The Yankees will send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound to face Marcus Stroman in his second start at home this season.</p>
<p><i>Lead Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports</i></p>
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		<title>Blue Jays Make Flurry of Moves</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/29/blue-jays-make-flurry-of-moves/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/03/29/blue-jays-make-flurry-of-moves/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Joshua Howsam]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joe Biagini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pat Venditte]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Randy Choate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steve Delabar]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=793</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With Spring Training quickly coming to a close, the pressure was on for the Blue Jays to start paring down their large exhibition rosters and start preparing for opening day on Sunday. Well, most of that pressure is gone now, as the Blue Jays made a bunch of moves this morning that have helped to [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>With Spring Training quickly coming to a close, the pressure was on for the Blue Jays to start paring down their large exhibition rosters and start preparing for opening day on Sunday. Well, most of that pressure is gone now, as the Blue Jays made a bunch of moves this morning that have helped to clear up the 25-man roster picture:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a> announce that reliever Steve Delabar, an all-star in 2013, has been given his unconditional release.</p>
<p>&mdash; Brendan Kennedy (@BKennedyStar) <a href="https://twitter.com/BKennedyStar/status/714790566333177856">March 29, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bluejays?src=hash">#Bluejays</a> clarify &#8211; Delabar has been placed on waivers for the purposes of granting him his unconditional release. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Jays?src=hash">#Jays</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Mike Wilner (@Wilnerness590) <a href="https://twitter.com/Wilnerness590/status/714810168157016065">March 29, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gibby said Estrada will &quot;probably&quot; start the season on the DL, in which case they will break camp w/ 4 starters &amp; an extra reliever.</p>
<p>&mdash; Brendan Kennedy (@BKennedyStar) <a href="https://twitter.com/BKennedyStar/status/714807907234086912">March 29, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">John Gibbons says <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a> released Randy Choate. Hope he&#39;ll accept assignment to Buffalo.</p>
<p>&mdash; Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShiDavidi/status/714808235870576640">March 29, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">John Gibbons makes it sound like Rule 5 pick Joe Biagini will break camp with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash">#BlueJays</a>. Says they want to take a further look at him</p>
<p>&mdash; Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShiDavidi/status/714808490322214912">March 29, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Whoa! That&#8217;s a lot to break down, but I&#8217;m going to give it my best shot.</p>
<p>The thing that probably stands out most to everybody is the release of Steve Delabar. It wasn&#8217;t that long ago that we were asked to #RaiseTheBar in an attempt to get the former setup man into the All-Star Game (a feat which we accomplished). For a while, Delabar looked like he was going to be a future closer in Toronto. He had extreme power stuff &#8211; a high 90s fastball and a diving splitter &#8211; and struck out hitters by the boatload; in his first 1.5 seasons in Toronto, he had a K/9 of 13.09. He always had some minor control issues, but with that kind of power it didn&#8217;t seem to matter. However, as happens so often with relievers, Delabar&#8217;s stuff began to take a step back. The fastball dropped to 93-95 mph, and the splitter lost some of his bite. When combined with the control issues, Delabar suddenly became very hittable on occasion. This led to an ERA of 5.07 split over 2014-2015, which just isn&#8217;t acceptable in a major league bullpen. Delabar will hope to latch on elsewhere, and the Blue Jays shed over $700K of his salary.</p>
<p>Randy Choate was also given the heave-ho by the Blue Jays, but they&#8217;re hoping <em>he</em> actually sticks around. I would have thought that he was the favourite for the role as the second left-hander in the bullpen &#8211; with Loup hurt &#8211; but it seems he didn&#8217;t impress. Considering he wasn&#8217;t his usual lefty-dominating self last year, it&#8217;s possible Choate could have trouble finding a big league job and remain with the Blue Jays. </p>
<p>It wasn&#8217;t all bad news for Jays relievers though. The cuts of Choate and Delabar and the DL stint for Estrada should make least two Blue Jays happy &#8211; Pat Venditte and Joe Biagini.</p>
<p>Thanks to his ability to pitch with both hands, Venditte rose to far more fame than one would expect for a bubble reliever. Still, he has shown a very advanced ability to retire left-handed batters, and has more value than a traditional specialist as he will still have the platoon advantage if the opposing manager sends up a pinch hitter (unless he switch-hits). It may seem like a novelty act, but if the Blue Jays do decide to go with a second lefty, he should be able to help the Blue Jays.</p>
<p>Biagini was a rule V pick from the San Francisco Giants who, at first, seemed like he might be a long shot to make the team. But, as names fell off the depth chart, Biagini rose quickly through the ranks. A starter in the minors, the tall righty has seen his stuff play up in short bursts out of the bullpen. His fastball has routinely touched 96 mph and he brings with it a pretty sharp curveball. The fastball can occasionally get a little straight, which leads to some hard contact, but there is definitely enough in that arm to warrant a longer look.</p>
<p>The other relievers on the bubble, Arnold Leon and Ryan Tepera, must also be breathing <em>a little</em> easier today. An eight-man bullpen certainly increases their chances of making the major leagues. Given that Tepera has an option left and Leon does not, I would assume Tepera is the most likely man to be sent down, but he also has reverse splits, so the Jays could opt to keep both of them and option Venditte. We&#8217;ll find out how this plays out within the next couple of days.</p>
<p>Finally, with Estrada officially hitting the disabled list, Marcus Stroman will be starting both the opener in Tampa on Sunday, and the home opener in Toronto next Friday (the 9th). The Blue Jays nominal ace is usually a high energy guy anyway, but expect him to be very amped up to be pitching in front of the always raucous home opener crowds. It will be a show worth watching.</p>
<p>That leaves just the battles for the fourth outfielder &#8211; between Darrell Ceciliani, Ezequiel Carrera, and Junior Lake &#8211; and the battle for closer &#8211; Roberto Osuna vs Drew Storen &#8211; as decisions yet to be made by the Blue Jays.</p>
<p>Real baseball is coming folks.</p>
<p><em>Lead photo: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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