It
appears as though the Blue Jays have created an awkward situation for
themselves: Dustin McGowan was a key, stabilizing force in their bullpen last
year – one of the few bright spots in a disaster of a season. And now in 2014
they’re in desperate need of him to move from the starting rotation back to the
bullpen to solidify their current, far-more-shaky version. However, with Brandon
Morrow possibly out for the year with an injured finger, they’re even leaner at
starting pitching than originally thought. Further complicating the issue is
that McGowan, complete with his new fatigue-busting in-game insulin pump, has
strung together a couple of really solid starts. The sad reality is that no
matter where McGowan pitches, the other side will be left lacking. Dustin
McGowan: 2014 Toronto Blue Jays Team Lynchpin, who would have thought that?
If
McGowan was struggling and still only able to throw 65 effective pitches at a
time then the decision would be easier, but it doesn’t make sense to move an
effective starter to the bullpen and in the process weaken an already weak
rotation. It would be a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. It’s simply not the
right time to play around with rotation/bullpen members.
As
I mentioned in my previous entry, Pitch: Talks on Baseball #3 was held
last Monday night. My Rain Man-like math skills tell me that I’m almost a week
late with this recap. Oh well.