Is our bullpen very underated?

[theyoungweatherman]

Many of us consider that our bullpen isn't very good but lets anylize it from top to bottom.

Casey Janssen- as we have seen today, he is a very good young relieve pitcher, can give you 2-4 innings of good relieve if the starter isn't doing very well. 2.56ERA

Shawn Marcum- He already proved last year that he can be a decent number 5 starter, there is no reason not to believe he can't be a great middle/long reliver. 3.52ERA

Victor Zambrano- He is very close at getting the 5th starter spot and ended up in the Bullpen, I really don't know what is his stuff but from his spring numbers, I think he can be a pretty good reliver. Prediction: 3.40ERA

Scott Downs- He has always been decent and consistent. There is no reason not t believe it wouldn't be the same way this year.4.12ERA

Jeremy Accardo- The only reliever that I have doubts this year, but still young and might have improved 5.31ERA

Jason Frasor- After coming back from the minors last year he has been pretty good, now in the setup role I think he should be okay. 3.21ERA

B.J Ryan- Been Terrific last year and there shouldn't be any doubt that the same thing will happen this year 1.57ERA

We are pretty solid at the middle/long relieve and closer role, the only part that is a bit shaky is the short relieve and set up, but considering that I thinke our bullpen should be top 10 of baseball

[arrow2knee]

Casey Janssen really suprised me and his pitches were in great controll and he was very confident.

[OldNo7]

1 game.

[CB4_Toronto_Raptors]

1 game.

I agree but Janssen and Frasor looked pretty good today

We'll see though

[rdua]

I agree with some of your assessment, but I think there is going to be a lot of movement of guys in and out of rotation?

I think we still have to address the issue of a situational lefty. Most of our bullpen look more suited for long relief and spot starts.

Janssen in the pen now is great, but the bullpen will take a hit when Ohka, Towers or Chacin implodes. Janssen is really a guy that seems to me he can cruise through the order a few times, but may struggle the 3rd time around, so perhaps its better just to leave him in the bullpen and shift someone like Zambrano.

And again, I still have high hopes for McGowan, so lets hope he can put all together this season.

[Raptor_Guy]

It makes me think how good it could be if it had League...damn you League

[SmallTownJournalist303]

I think Marcum is a serious wildcard here. He was a strike-throwing machine in the minors, but he's gotten away from that recently when thrust into the rotation. If he can pitch out of the bullpen and walk as few batters as he did in the minors, he'll be a stud.
I really like the potential our bullpen has this year.

[Ryanz24]

Well the key word is potential here...

Alot of people who can be great but have yet to prove over time that they are great...

[stro4swift]

I wanna see League!

[Harold_and_Kumar]

I agree with some of your assessment, but I think there is going to be a lot of movement of guys in and out of rotation?

I think we still have to address the issue of a situational lefty. Most of our bullpen look more suited for long relief and spot starts.

Janssen in the pen now is great, but the bullpen will take a hit when Ohka, Towers or Chacin implodes. Janssen is really a guy that seems to me he can cruise through the order a few times, but may struggle the 3rd time around, so perhaps its better just to leave him in the bullpen and shift someone like Zambrano.

And again, I still have high hopes for McGowan, so lets hope he can put all together this season.

Is he even considered a prospect still lol?

[rdua]

-= original quote snipped =-

Is he even considered a prospect still lol?

It's wishful thinking on my part. Basically, I'm making this his last season to put it together.

[Ocho Cinco]

I'd say our pen has the potential to become a very under-the-radar successful pen in the AL .. it's still just potential at this point though. I think it'll take a hit when Zambrano joins our rotation but we'll see.

[The-Insider]

Here is what Ken Rosenthal has to say about the pen:

The wisdom of Blue Jays manager John Gibbons moving Lyle Overbay to the No. 2 spot was apparent in the team's 7-5 victory over the Tigers.
Overbay, a left-handed hitter, is more valuable batting second than he would be breaking up the right-handed hitters in the middle of the Jays' order.

In the first inning, Overbay drove in leadoff man Reed Johnson with a double. In the 10th, he started the Jays' go-ahead rally with a one-out single.

Overbay's .372 career on-base percentage makes him a good choice for the No. 2 spot, as does his gap power.


The biggest surprise in the Jays' victory over the Tigers was the performance of their bullpen, particularly the 2 1/3 scoreless innings from right-hander Casey Janssen in his third career relief appearance.
Except for closer B.J. Ryan, the Jays have a relatively anonymous bullpen; general manager J.P. Ricciardi does not believe in spending big money on setup relievers.

The Jays did not add a replacement for setup man Justin Speier, who left for the Angels as a free agent. Their projected in-house alternative, Brandon League, is starting the season at Class AAA while trying to regain his velocity.

The Jays, however, boast more pitching depth than in the past.

Janssen, fellow right-handers Shaun Marcum and Victor Zambrano and lefty Scott Downs all opened the season in the bullpen, but represent possible insurance for the rotation as well.

[Holmes]

This thread is actually showing that we are overrating our bullpen.

[OldNo7]

This thread is actually showing that we are overrating our bullpen.

[evilRyu]

I think the jury is still out on the bullpen... from what it looks like, seems like a lot of guys are very unproven..... whereas last year, they had scott schoewenweiss (sp?), and speier as the vets...

[trevc3]

I don't think our bullpen is underated nor overated. I expect enough good performances to equal out the sure-to-come poor performances.