Tyler Chatwood exemplifies state Toronto Blue Jays bullpen

Let us go back to June 4. On that day, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Tyler Chatwood imploded when brought in to what would turn out to be a 13-1 blowout loss. He failed to record an out in the eighth inning, allowing five runs on six hits before mercifully being removed from the game.

After that disastrous performance, there were calls to release Chatwood, removing him from the bullpen equation altogether. While he was demoted in the pecking order, he remained with the team, an indictment as to the status of the Blue Jays’ bullpen.

Tyler Chatwood shows Toronto Blue Jays bullpen woes

That demotion did not last for long. The Blue Jays bullpen has been a disaster for much of the year, to the point where Chatwood has reclaimed his place as one of their late inning relievers. Even with his epic implosion on June 4, he was back to pitching in key situations five days later.

With another rough outing on Friday, those calls for Chatwood to be let go have begun again. There are two problems with this – first, Chatwood, aside from those occasional disasters, has been relatively solid for much of the year. Second, it is not as though the Blue Jays have many other options.

Prior to his performance against the Astros, Chatwood had posted a 3.10 ERA and a 1.230 WHiP over his 20.1 innings, striking out 24 batters with 14 walks. Even though his walk rate was high, ten of those walks came over a four game span before that disaster on June 4, showing that he was due to struggle.

Chatwood was also solid after that outing. In his eight games immediately afterwards, he fired 6.2 shutout innings, allowing only two walks while striking out five. Even with those occasional implosions, he has been one of the Blue Jays better relievers this season, which shows the plight of their relief corps.

Despite the occasional disastrous outing, Tyler Chatwood has been one of the Toronto Blue Jays’ better relievers this year. That says everything about the state of their bullpen.