The Blue Jays' bullpen has had a rough August, but the starters have been elite

"The Toronto Blue Jays are glad to see August come to an end. The bullpen had been abysmal last month, with a 4.76 ERA, and some pitchers were experiencing their worst stretch of the season. Tommy Nance was the lone bright spot, recording a 0.59 ERA, but was the only bullpen arm throwing in four or more innings who posted an ERA under 4.00. Louis Varland, Jeff Hoffman, and Yariel Rodriguez each posted ERA's over 6.00 in 11 or more outings."

"Manager John Schneider has stated that the Blue Jays will revert to a five-person rotation, with Eric Lauer transitioning from the starting rotation back to the bullpen. Lauer had a 5.30 ERA in August, but he has a 0.86 ERA coming out of the bullpen this season. Chris Bassitt addressed the team's needs for managing workloads, stating, "... there's a lot of hatred, so to speak, on the bullpen, but I mean those guys are tired.""

"Shane Bieber is the exception, having thrown only 11 1/3 innings, returning to MLB after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2024. Bieber has looked impressive after his two starts, with MLB insider Buster Olney saying, "The Blue Jays may have possibly made the best trade in all of sports." Over Bieber's two outings, he posted 15 strikeouts, one hit batter, and held batters to a .175 batting average off of him."

The Blue Jays' bullpen posted a 4.76 ERA in August, with only Tommy Nance (0.59 ERA) performing well among relievers throwing four-plus innings. Several relievers, including Louis Varland, Jeff Hoffman, and Yariel Rodriguez, posted ERAs above 6.00 across 11 or more appearances. Manager John Schneider will move to a five-man rotation and shift Eric Lauer back to the bullpen; Lauer had a 5.30 ERA as a starter in August but a 0.86 ERA this year as a reliever. Starters have been effective, with four hurlers under a 4.00 ERA in 27-plus innings, and Shane Bieber returned impressively from Tommy John surgery with 15 strikeouts in two starts. Pitchers and staff cited fatigue in the bullpen and emphasized the need for starters to cover more innings to relieve the bullpen workload.

Read at Jays Journal