Blue Jays (44-44) vs. Indians (45-42) | July 13 - 15

[Randle McMurphy]

There...that wasn't so hard. Using your best relievers in close games pays dividends. Wait to use the scrubs for when we're getting blown out in New York this week.

[Michael Bradley]

What has gotten into Farrell? Using his best relievers in close games? No Cordero? Two inning save? Wow. He sure took a long time to start making common sense bullpen moves but hopefully it continues.

[BigLeagueChew]

Farrell was just trolling us.

[RapsFanInVA]

Farrell was just trolling us.

It took a season and a half but he's finally worked out the kinks.

[ItsDanger]

Used to be a lot of 2 inning saves back in the day. Now, perhaps it stat driven, ie. 1 inning gives the guy another chance for a save next day.

[TheDunc]

Laffey and Villaneuva have been very good for the jays. AA needs to go out and get us some more pitching. 1 more starting pitcher and Morrow coming back will help big time.

[youreachiteach]

I think Farrel's priorities and ours did not really diverge before the all-star break. I think he was in survival mode, worrying too much about injuring his key relievers before the second half. That was his major focus coming into the year, if you remember. He felt like he was too reactionary last year and burnt them out. Instead of helping to keep him on an even keel, however, he became too much of a slave to it.

He thought he needed to consider the big picture more in terms of giving appropriate rest. Once his set roles got blown out of the water by injury and inconsistency, he was kind of forced to just gamble with who he had, hoping they could come up with something so he could help the key guys from getting hurt too. He was sort of searching around for an answer in the dark.

It didn't help that his starters who were healthy were **** the bed, too. Granted, I think we can all agree he made some horrendous choices in hindsight, and I wonder if he hasn't had a talking to by AA to that end. On the other hand, there is only so much to do when you are forced to use multiple relievers almost every single game. He had to go to the project/low leverage guys SOMETIME. Because he was so worried about staying competitive, he even managed to overuse his key guys in games where he didn't really need them.

Remember, also, that it's Farrel and AA's job to try and retain value, which is why you are seeing Lind again. Giving CoCo those chances at reinvigorating himself were designed to help get his value up, and to get value usage (money ) out of the money they paid. It was too bad he couldn't get himself right, as he was supposed to be a key piece.

It appears that AA and Farrel made some decisions at the all-star break about usage in the bullpen, and have finally given up on Cordero. Dyson, Loup and Beck finally give Farrel a 4,5, and 6 he can use more sparingly because they are rookies, but on top of that, are just better quality than the retreads we have been using. Just removing Coco from high leverage situations will be a HUGE help. This is going to make Farrel look like a genius by comparison. It also helps that the rotation has been reversed, so that the veteran pitchers (who have performed best to this point) are being put in the top positions in the rotation. It's not pretty, but we have seen already, it's at least passable. Cecil and Alvarez will have to take a cue from these guys if we want any shot at competing.

We shouldn't see too much more fumbling with the pen, at least...I hope not :

Some pundits (including Griffin) apparently said they were giving Farrel a pass due to the injuries, believing he needed time to sort out the kinks and get a handle on what was working and what wasn't. Hopefully the all-star break has allowed everyone to get on the same page and helped Farrel to see the forest for the trees.