The Bullpen: The Toronto Blue Jays' Lone Bright Spot for 2009

Last year was in no way a good year for the Toronto Blue Jays.  In fact, the word 'decent' may ever be a tad too strong. Their offence was non- existent, and the injuries were aplenty, which caused their subpar year. There were two bright spots last season: the starting staff and the bullpen. 

Roy Halladay had his best year since '03, Burnett had his best year as a Jay (injury-free too, I might add), Litsch was impressive after a conditioning stint in Syracuse, Marcum was solid, and all the young guys who filled in for McGowan showed some promise.

This season, however, is a completely different story. The Jays have virtually the same offence as last year, which is concern number one. Vernon Wells was the only player to hit 20 home runs for the team, and only chipped in 78 RBI. This Spring Training, he has already injured the hamstring that plagued him last season.

It also seems very unlikely that Scott Rolen and Lyle Overbay will be able to have functional years due to their offseason surgery issues. Travis Snyder and Adam Lind are still getting adjusted to life in the big leagues, so don't expect a major offensive outburst from them.

Their only hope on offence is Alex Rios, but if anyone can have a big year, its him.

Also, the starting rotation is nowhere as good as it was last year. No A.J. Burnett, no Marcum, and no Mcgowan. As of now, only Roy Halladay will be able to put up 15+ wins and post an ERA below 3.30.

The lone bright spot for the Jays is their stellar bullpen. However, there are already two pitchers who need to work on their mechanics in order to be successful. B.J. Ryan has a 36.00 ERA in two relief appearances so far. 

He has even gone so far as to pull out of the World Baseball Classic in order to work on his control. Jeremy Accardo surrendered seven runs today in the Jays 12-7 loss to Philadelphia. 

Other than those two fixable problems, the rest of the 'pen looks good.  Scott Downs is slated to be one of two set-up men for Ryan. Last year, he posted a 1.78 ERA in 66 appearances, with five saves, and 57 strikeouts. The other set-up man will be Brandon League. 

He had a rough return in 2007, appearing in only 14 games, and posting a 6.17 ERA. Last year though, he appeared too have regained his control and speed as he made 31 appearances, posting a 2.18 ERA.

The middle-relief will likely consist of three pitchers.  The first being Brian Tallet, who made 51 appearances last year, posting a solid 2.88 ERA.  Tallet is also capable of working a long-relief role.

The second middle-reliever will likely be Shawn Camp. Camp played in 40 games last year, going 3-1 with an inflated 4.12 ERA. If he is unable to establish some control, look for him to be overtaken by Jason Frasor.

The final middle-reliever will be Jesse Carlson. He played in a team-high 69 games last season, posting a very solid 2.25 ERA. In those 69 appearances, he managed to obtain a record of 7-2, and save two games. Very solid for a rookie, and should have another great year.

The only bullpen problem comes in long-relief. The Jays didn't worry too much about this last season as all five starters were able to pitch late into most games. This upcoming season though, Manager Cito Gaston has addressed the need for a two to three inning guy.

The most popular name floating around right now is the returning Casey Janssen. 

He missed all of 2008 due to surgery on a torn labrum, but he is back now, and looking to relive his excellent 2007 year.  That season, he made 70 appearances as the set-up man, posting a 2.35 ERA, and even saving six games. Gaston sees him as the perfect candidate to pitch in long relief, and this Jays fan would not complain if that were to happen.

Unfortunately, the Toronto Blue Jays will probably have another bad year in 2009, unless their offence is able to rebound, or unless they are able to swing a major deal to bring a power-bat over by opening day. I don't see that happening though.

Feedback would be appreciated folks.