TORONTO – Try as he did, Aaron Loup couldn’t keep his mind from wandering. Over the span of 16 days, he threw exactly one pitch that counted for the Toronto Blue Jays, and a lack of usage like that tends to make a guy think about things.
On July 26 against the Seattle Mariners, he surrendered a walk-off homer to Franklin Gutierrez in the 10th inning, on July 31 versus the Kansas City Royals he gave up an infield single to Eric Hosmer and then he waited and he waited and he waited.
“It definitely gets you wondering, wondering about things you probably didn’t need to be wondering about,” says Loup. “Like, am I really not going to pitch this long? Am I really not that good? I’m having a not so good season, but at the same time is it really going as bad as it seems right now?
“Those kinds of things you’ve got find a way to put behind you as best you can and keep pushing through. Hopefully we’ll get back out there soon again.”
Loup’s lengthy absence ended in Wednesday’s 10-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics, when he threw a scoreless ninth, allowing a single and striking out two, reaping some quick dividends from his work with pitching coach Pete Walker during his idle time.
The two watched video of Loup this season and compared it to previous years, eventually identifying some problem areas.
“This year I’ve tried throwing a tighter slider and for me the only way to get it the way I wanted was to climb on top of the ball more than usual,” explains Loup. “It brought my arm slot up, not a lot, but just enough to where it affected everything else.
“I lost some of the sink I had on my fastball. The hard slider for me didn’t really play as well as the one I had in the past so we looked at that, we looked at the positives/negatives of both ways with the slider and we decided to go back to the old slider, which in turn dropped my arm slot back to where it was, got my hand position on the ball to where it should be and everything came back to where it’s been. Hopefully we can take it and run with it and finish the season strong.”
Reclaiming a role in the suddenly stacked Blue Jays bullpen won’t be easy, but it’s worth remembering that depth, especially among relievers, is crucial. At some point Loup will be needed, and given the important role he played the past two seasons, and even earlier this year, manager John Gibbons retains faith in him.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of his,” Gibbons says. “One thing about Loupy, he’s the ultimate pro, he’s the guy here the last couple of years, he’d take the ball no matter how much he’s pitching, zero complaints. He’s hit a little rough patch this year, it’s not uncommon for relievers at this level, but he knows I have confidence in him. It may not look like it at the moment but I do.”
Heading into Thursday’s action, Loup had a 5.05 ERA in 47 games, second most on the team even with the dry spell. His peripherals suggest his numbers should be better than what they are, and the strong outing against the Athletics was something to build upon.
“It’s hard to do what he did, regardless of the score,” says R.A. Dickey. “He hadn’t pitched in a while, he’s had some really bad breaks this year, but for him to come in and really be sharp, that speaks to his character. He’s really kept himself sharp, he hasn’t pouted down there, he’s still working on things, and he comes in and has a sharp inning.”
Loup threw off the mound once or twice a series during the gap, anywhere from 5-25 pitches depending on what he felt was needed, but was much happier applying his adjustments in game.
He’s been searching for something to click and now he may have it found, he says, “it boosts your spirits a little bit.”
