Toronto Blue Jays: Options for closing
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Three and a half weeks into the 2015 season and there is one steady problem that seems to be plaguing the Toronto Blue Jays. It appears to be who their everyday closer is going to be.
After former Blue Jays pitcher Casey Janssen departed via free agency to Washington, there have been questions as to who will step into the vacant role for the 2015 season. During the month of April, the team anointed two closers. They were LHP Brett Cecil and hard throwing 20-year-old rookie RHP Miguel Castro. Both relievers have had questionable results. Neither of them has proven to have quality pitches.
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Cecil is already getting his second crack at the job and we are not even into May yet. Manager John Gibbons is clearly scrambling trying to make something work. Castro came out like gang-busters as a hard throwing sensation at Yankee Stadium in early April. Prior to this season, Castro had never hurled higher than Single-A baseball. The pressure and the demands of a major league season might be showing that Castro has more to learn in the pros.
Cecil, during his second time around as closer, happened to work well on Tuesday night in an 11-8 slugfest victory over the Boston Red Sox.
As the season progresses, questions and pressure will continue to mount upon GM Alex Anthopoulos. The Blue Jays have the longest active playoff drought of any MLB team. They have not made the playoffs since 1993. Anthopoulos needs to solidify that lights out guy at the back end of the bullpen or the playoff drought will continue.
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