TORONTO – Following the Toronto Blue Jays’ 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday, manager John Gibbons said he has, in his words, “a pretty good idea of what I want to do,” with his bullpen.
It remains to be seen just how Roberto Osuna fits in short, middle and long-term after the second four-out save of his rookie season. Who knows what a trade or a possible return to the bullpen for Aaron Sanchez might bring? But if Osuna’s performance in front of 42,376 at the Rogers Centre turns out to have coat tails, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s used the Rangers to make an impression.
In fact, Blue Jays assistant general manager Tony LaCava will tell you that it was a showcase event in Arizona against a collection of Rangers minor leaguers that convinced the team to pursue the 15-year-old free agent from Mexico. It wasn’t a work of art, but the Blue Jays came away impressed with his stuff and tenacity with men on base. And there were a lot of them that day.
Sunday, Osuna struck out Shin-Soo Choo with the tying run on third to end the eighth inning, and then fanned Mitch Moreland to end the game with the tying run again at third. In the process, he became the youngest major-league pitcher with multiple saves of four-plus outs in a season since another Blue Jays pitcher — Victor Cruz in 1978.
“Every time we face a guy coming out of the ‘pen, it seems like they’re throwing 95 or 96 to us, so it’s nice to have him on our side,” said Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson. “He’s got the ability to mix pitches up, and it’s not just, you know, dead-red heater. And I think that’s what separates him from a lot of younger guys who aren’t in the big leagues right now and have good arms; he has the capability of throwing two or three pitches for strikes, and as a hitter that makes it tough for you to just get on one pitch.”
Donaldson’s 18th home run off of Rangers starter Chi Chi Gonzalez (2-3) in the fourth inning, an RBI double by Devon Travis and subsequent run-scoring single by Jose Reyes in the fifth were all the offence the Blue Jays mustered on a day when they were held to just four hits.
That’s the fewest hits the Blue Jays have had in a win this season. In fact, the victory was only their third when scoring less than four runs — against 27 losses.
Drew Hutchison (8-1) struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings, allowing a run in the sixth on a single by Elvis Andrus while Adrian Beltre’s force out in the seventh brought home the Rangers’ second run with Bo Schultz on the mound.
Osuna, who came into the game with a WHIP of 0.90, was called upon after Steve Delabar walked the No. 9 hitter, Robinson Chirinos, to put runners on the corners. He started Choo off with an 83 miles per hour change-up and buried him with a 97 mph fastball.
Rougned Odor opened the ninth for the Rangers by doubling on a 2-2 pitch, and then went to third on a one-out fly ball to right-centre off the bat of Adrian Beltre. That brought up Moreland, 0-for-4 on the day but .476 since June 6, with runners in scoring position. He swung and missed at a 97 mph four-seam fastball, missed again on an 85 mph change-up, then missed on another 97 mph elevated fastball.
“Everybody knows I throw hard, so they’re looking for the fastball … so, I got to get first-pitch fastball and then change-ups,” said Osuna.
Although the Blue Jays bullpen has been slightly less toxic this month, seeing Toronto’s closer get a deer-in-the-headlights look has been an all-too frequent ninth-inning occurrence this season. But Osuna didn’t flinch with a man on base. In fact, he showed an uncommon presence for a 20-year-old on Prince Fielder’s line out to left-fielder Ezequiel Carrera, taking a step towards third base when the ball left Fielder’s bat before racing over to put himself between second and first base — perfectly placed, as it turned out, to catch Carrera’s over-throw of second base.
“Nothing … nothing,” was Osuna’s response when he was asked about what he felt with Odor on second. “What I told Russell (Martin, the Blue Jays catcher) was I got to make better pitches against Fielder and Beltran … and after that, I felt more comfortable against Moreland.”
Martin had bad news for opposing hitters after the game: even though he hasn’t used it much, Osuna’s been working on a better slider — “It’s short, tight, they can’t pick it up and it works off the same plane as the fastball,” Martin said. For now, however, the change and fastball leaves batters guessing — and Gibbons gives much of the credit to Martin, who time and again forced Osuna to throw it during spring training.
Said Martin: “From the get-go I just realized it was a good pitch that he had. If you have a good pitch … you tend to use it.”
As for the showdown with Moreland? Martin shrugged.
“Moreland’s a good low-ball hitter,” said Martin. “He stays in the zone a long time and we had beaten him up in the zone. We knew he was going to be pumped up with adrenaline, and Osuna threw a perfect pitch up in the hands, up and in, got ahead of him and probably got him worried about the velocity a little bit. Then he executed down and away and at that point I felt we had him a little in-between and we just threw another fastball up.”
It was another reminder of just how advanced Osuna is — no doubt a product of pedigree (he comes from a family of pitchers) and the fact he was pitching professionally in Mexico at the age of 16.
“I want to be in that situation,” Osuna said afterwards of his ninth-inning responsibilities. “I feel pretty comfortable in it.”
So, it seems, does his manager. For now.