Reliever Breakdown: Projecting the Blue Jays' 2022 Opening Day Bullpen
The Blue Jays are a good team. And the thing about good teams is that they usually enter spring training with most of their roster spots already spoken for, meaning Toronto’s Grapefruit League season hasn’t been rife with positional showdowns or breakout performances.
In fact, part of the mystery around the Blue Jays’ Opening Day batting order was solved Monday, where reports confirmed first baseman Greg Bird would not make the team—he’ll exercise his release clause and become a free agent—and that lifelong minor-league infielder Gosuke Katoh will crack the roster.
The Katoh and Bird moves add some clarity to Toronto’s position-player alignment, but they don’t tell the story elsewhere. The Blue Jays’ biggest—and now only—camp battles are in the bullpen, where Toronto has a variety of different arms vying for a few final spots.
With that in mind, our two Inside The Blue Jays beat writers outlined cases for the final spots in the Blue Jays’ Opening Day bullpen.
The Locks
RHP Jordan Romano
LHP Tim Mayza
RHP Yimi García
RHP Adam Cimber
RHP Trevor Richards
RHP David Phelps
RHP Ross Stripling
Jordan Romano should be healthy for Opening Day, meaning he’s the club’s de facto closer. Tim Mayza and Yimi García could line up as seventh/eighth inning guys, with Adam Cimber, David Phelps, and Trevor Richards handling the earlier high leverage opportunities, while Ross Stripling works as the long man.
It’s a respectable-but-not-phenomenal core group, meaning Toronto could use a breakout performance or two from some of the lesser-known names on our projections to jump into the upper tier of AL bullpens.
The Contenders
Beyond the seven locks listed above, the Jays have four 40-man relievers vying for spots on the roster: Ryan Borucki, Julian Merryweather, Tayler Saucedo, and Trent Thornton. Andrew Vasquez was recently optioned and Nate Pearson was in contention but "won't be able to break camp" due to illness, per Ben Nicholson-Smith.
The Jays could carry 11 relievers, but with Katoh making the team and newly-acquired catcher Zack Collins in contention for a roster spot, 10 seems like the more likely number.
We break down each reliever's case for the final three spots below.
Julian Merryweather
Upside. Upside. Upside.
Merryweather’s greatest value is his potential to do great things, which seems odd since he’s 30 years old, but if you watch the right-hander closely, you’ll understand.
A high-90s fastball, a slow changeup, and a decent slider give Merryweather all the makings of a useful MLB reliever. When you zoom out, though, the numbers can get ugly, and Merryweather’s done nothing to quiet doubters with a 10.80 ERA in five innings this spring. Still, he’s the best of Toronto’s fringe relievers based on stuff alone
There’s an adage that goes something like, ‘If you can do it once, you can do it again.’ Merryweather looked amazing once, and it’s worth keeping him on the Opening Day roster to see if he can do it again. - Ethan
Also of note is Toronto management's admitted desire to add swing-and-miss to the 2022 'pen. If Nate Pearson doesn't break camp with the team, Toronto will have just two pitchers in the bullpen who ranked above the 65th percentile in fastball velocity last year, Borucki and Romano. At worst, Merryweather adds a new look to the unit. At best, he’s the leverage weapon Toronto saw in the Bronx last spring. - Mitch
Tayler Saucedo
Saucedo is essentially a lefty specialist who was used almost exclusively in low-leverage roles in 2021. But there’s an opportunity for him to be a bit more in 2022.
Saucedo’s sinker-slider profile is quite similar to fellow lefty Mayza’s, though Saucedo also tosses in a surprisingly effective changeup (.119 xAVG last season) every so often and can work multiple innings—two things Mayza cannot do.
The 28-year-old has two minor-league options, and with expanded rosters for the first month of the season, it seems like a wasted opportunity not to carry a second left-hander, especially someone like Saucedo who gives the Blue Jays bullpen another funky arm slot and a different pitch mix. - Ethan
Ryan Borucki
The framework of a great reliever is there for Borucki, and we've seen it.
Despite bouts with command, the lefty's high-velocity sinker has paired with a big-whiff slider to earn outs at the highest level.
Borucki was building on a strong 2020 early last year, holding opponents to an OPS of just .513 in the first half. Then, the wheels kinda fell off. The spin rates dropped, the expected and actual ERAs went up, and Borucki finished the season with a 4.29 ERA. Can he re-find the 2020 and early 2021 form? With no minor-league options remaining, if Borucki doesn't crack Toronto's roster another team will get to find out.
If Borucki (hamstring) isn’t healthy, an IL stint and rehab outings could help punt a decision point down the road. - Mitch
Trent Thornton
As Toronto’s injury-replacement go-to guy, Thornton has logged innings and even made starts for the club over the last three seasons, albeit to mixed results. I’m picking him to make the Opening Day bullpen for the same reason.
Fellow fringe reliever Borucki suffered a hamstring injury in spring training and is questionable for Opening Day—I’m banking on him starting the year on the injured list and Thornton taking his spot. That’s pretty much the depth of my analysis. I could delve into statistical support, but, in Thornton’s case, I’ll find none.
Sometimes vanilla is a passable flavor. At least with Thornton you know what you’re getting. - Ethan
