That's more like it. Yesterday's game brought a win, and interesting developments in the bullpen. But, first off, let us praise Josh Towers, who hung in yesterday for the win after a tough first inning.
Josh Towers' career prior to 2005 was a tightrope walk. While he has had excellent control, he struck out under 5 batters per game, and was vulnerable to the longball. Opponents batted .309/.340/.521 off him over the last 3 years. His chances of making the pension fund were not looking especially good, but Towers obviously applied himself in the off-season and voila, 3 extra miles per hour on the heater. Suddenly, he's striking out an extra 3 batters per game, and his overall effectiveness has improved markedly.
Do not be deceived by his 4.61 ERA. He's pitching better than that, but his ERA has suffered from poorer than usual performance with runners on base (.290/.313/.710). As this has not been a problem over his career, there is every likelihood that his ERA will reflect his improved performance in striking out batters and consequently allowing fewer hits.
It is probably an oversimplification to say that mastering one of the three true outcomes will grant a pitcher a short stay in the majors, while two is the ticket to a long career. But, there is a grain of truth there. Josh Towers' career outlook has never been better.
The bullpen-yesterday
Vinny Chulk's ascent on the bullpen chart continues. He came on yesterday with a runner on first and 2 outs in the 7th with a 5-3 lead, and retired the 4 batters he faced, two by strikeout. After the Jays scored 2 more in the bottom of the eighth, Justin Speier came on to clean up in the ninth and got 2 outs, and then gave up 2 hits. Miguel Batista came on in the mother of all easy save opportunities, needing one out with the tying run in the on-deck circle. He converted but not before adding a few points to the collective blood pressure of Jay fans.
The bullpen-Apr. 15-28
Here is the chart of usage for Apr. 15-28. I begin with a recap of Apr 12-14 from the Bullpen Report v. 1.
April 15-April 28
(entrance inning/batters faced/opp. GPA)
date Batista Speier Frasor League Schoen Chulk Walker
Ap 12 8.0/4 6.2/3 7.1/3
.113 .233 .150
Ap 13 7.2/2 7.0/4 7.1/4
.225 .466 .350
Ap 14 --------------------complete game----------------------
Ap 15 6.0/11
.218
Ap 16 8.0/6
.325
Ap 17 8.1/2 7.0/4 6.0/4 3.0/12
.000 .000 .175 .218
Ap 18 8.0/3 5.2/7 3.0/12 7.0/5
.000 .443 .330 .330
Ap 19 8.0/5
.300
W'side
Ap 20 8.0/5 7.0/3 5.0/12 3.1/12
.300 .000 .419 .356
Ap 21 8.0/3 7.0/5 6.0/4
.233 .242 .175
Ap 22 7.0/7 6.0/4 7.0/6 7.1/8
.716 .175 .560 .356
Ap 23 8.0/8
.263
Ap 24 8.0/4 6.0/8
.363 .311
Ap 25-------------------day off----------------------------
Ap 26 8.0/3 7.0/2 7.0/1 6.0/4
.000 .000 .700 .175
Ap 27 7.2/2 8.0/4
.225 .175
Ap 28 8.2/2 8.0/4 6.2/4
.350 .413 .000
John Gibbons seems to be making the required adjustments to make this a functional if not spectacular bullpen. Miguel Batista is the closer. Jason Frasor and Vinny Chulk take the high leverage 7th and 8th inning work. Scott Schoeneweis usually will come in to face 3 batters, at least 2 of whom are lefties. Justin Speier is in middle relief, at least for now. Pete Walker is the long man. During these past two weeks, which saw a fair degree of bullpen work especially in the Texas and Baltimore series, each of the relief crew got about the right amount of work. Only Matt Whiteside lacks a role.
Here were comments from the Bauxites over the past week. Yesterday's game thread also contained an interesting discussion about Speier's struggles. Whether it is simply a performance blip or an unwelcome indicator of further arm troubles remains to be seen. Gibbons' decision to place him temporarily in a lesser role is wise.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20050428210601157