The Blue Jays could get some reinforcements for their bullpen soon enough.
On Sunday afternoon, Yariel Rodríguez appeared in his second rehab assignment for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, finishing with a line of 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K to keep his season ERA at the level at 0.
As you may recall, the 27-year-old right-handed pitcher made his first rehab appearance last Tuesday, when he pitched just a third of an inning and gave up an unearned run and a walk in what was a 3-1 Buffalo Bisons loss. In that game, he only threw 16 pitches, nine of them for strikes.
Well, he threw 34 pitches on Sunday with 23 of them being for strikes. Diving deeper into his stats, the fastball averaged 93.6 mph, down from his yearly average of 94.3 mph. However, he touched 96.2 mph with the heater, and generated a whiff on five total swings. He threw seven sliders as well, with one whiff on six total swings.
One of four whiffs that Yariel Rodríguez generated today! pic.twitter.com/Y9GT04nK0f
— Ryley Delaney (@Ryley_L_D) May 27, 2024
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Rodríguez had more success with his two-seam fastball and his curveball, as the latter generated one whiff on four total swings, while the curve had one swing and miss on two total swings.
After an awful 14-11 loss on Sunday, the Blue Jays bullpen is in dire straits this season, and they aren’t selling any refrigerators. With a 5.01 ERA for the season, the Blue Jays bullpen is the third worst in the league, a significant problem for a team banking on it to return to form.
Thankfully, it seems like Rodríguez, as well as Bowden Francis and Chad Green are somewhat close to returning in the near future. The latter pitched in his third rehab game on Saturday, giving up a hit but pitching a scoreless inning. A worrisome sign for Green is that he’s struck out just one batter while facing 12 of them.
Francis last pitched Wednesday, which is expected to be his last rehab outing. The 28-year-old gave up two earned runs in 2.1 innings pitched while striking out a batter. Toronto needs length from their bullpen and when Rodríguez and Francis return, it will help mightly.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.