Mason Fluharty has been a pleasant surprise in the Blue Jays bullpen this season and has made an efficacious impact. His 3-0 record, 2.16 ERA, 16 punchouts, and 0.600 WHIP have been hard to ignore. Fluharty and Brendon Little, the Blue Jays’ other left-handed specialist in the bullpen have been solid this season. Combined they have recorded a 4-0 record with 11 holds, 36.0 innings pitched, 45 strikeouts, a 2.00 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP, and a 0.6 fWAR. Fluharty has also gained leadership experience from Jeff Hoffman in the bullpen which demonstrates how he has settled in well with the team.
Overall, this has illustrated them as solid left-handed relievers in the bullpen. The Blue Jays bullpen this season consists of high-end relievers including Yimi Garcia, and Hoffman. The bullpen overall has vastly improved compared to 2024. They ranked dead last in the American League with a 4.83 ERA.
Blue Jays Left-Handed Reliever Fluharty a Pleasant Surprise in the Bullpen
Why Fluharty Has Dominated in the Pen
He’s provided the Blue Jays with a boost against right-handed hitters. He went on a hot streak of 0 for 20 against them. He recently broke his streak giving up a home run to former Blue Jay right-handed batter Danny Jansen. But overall Fluharty has been dominant in striking out opponents, demonstrating confidence on the mound with his command and control. He’s also been impressive considering he is a rookie who made his debut with the Blue Jays on April 1st and recorded his first MLB strikeout against Nathaniel Lowe. He accomplished this by utilizing his low-breaking ball. His FIP of 3.04 and 0.2 WAR have also been stellar alongside his LOB % of 72.9 %
How the Blue Jays Have Utilized their Bullpen Relievers
The 23-year-old deserves to earn more playing time but more importantly, John Schneider needs to use him in multi-inning situations as he has proven to handle the workload. He could have been utilized in these types of situations where other relievers have struggled. His workload could be stretched more and while there are still areas of his pitching that he needs to develop, he’s shown a lot of promise. Fluharty needs to work on his chase rate, walk rate, and barrel rate which all rank in the 48th percentile and lower. His hard-hit rate has been impressive this season and ranks in the 92nd percentile at 30.6%.
As well as his xBA which ranks in the 93rd percentile only giving up a .189 batting average. There are a lot of encompassing factors that make Fluharty an exciting reliever to watch in the pen. The Blue Jays bullpen has also needed to be solid this season. This is because the starting rotation has taken a hit with Scherzer on the shelf. The Blue Jays have utilized Yariel Rodriguez well in the pen and have also had him start games while pitching in low-leverage situations across about an inning.
Main Photo Credits: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
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