When he addressed his Toronto Blue Jays to open spring training, John Farrell sent a blunt message to the starting pitchers.
Do not congratulate yourselves after a five-inning start, the manager said. You guys must dig deep and find a way to go deeper.
Last year, Toronto starters wore out their relievers. Ten American League rotations pitched more innings than the Jays' starters.
The obvious corollary: Only three AL bullpens worked more innings than Toronto's.
"It is on our starters to go deeper into games," Farrell said Sunday.
That does not mean more time in the weight room or more pitches in the bullpen this spring, Farrell stressed. What he wants is a new mindset. And over the next month in Florida, he and his staff will hammer home that mindset: Each time out, a starter must go six or seven innings.
"There are those games where a guy is maybe in that fourth inning where things aren't going quite his way," Farrell said. "He's got to find a way to get through to the sixth and possibly the seventh inning. We had too many games [last year] where in the fifth inning we were already going to the bullpen."
Those hoping to start for Toronto this year need not look far for a model. With his resilient flair, Ricky Romero has become a classic ace: Opponents must get to him early or not at all.
Romero was eighth in the league with 225 innings pitched last year. His average per start: 7.03 innings. No other Toronto starter was even close.
Early on, Farrell said, Toronto's bullpen ranked among the best in the league. As the season progressed, the bullpen regressed. Overwork took a toll, he said.
"We asked a lot from that group and I think it caught up to us," he said.
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