With Yates out, here are six high-leverage options for Jays

Scott Mitchell

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TORONTO — Situational, matchup-based bullpens are en vogue right now and that’s how Charlie Montoyo will be deploying his high-leverage arms when the season starts next week in the Bronx.

With the news Monday afternoon that the Toronto Blue Jays have lost veteran right-hander Kirby Yates for “multiple weeks” with a flexor strain, the latest elbow injury for a 34-year-old already coming off season-ending surgery last August to remove bone chips, the Jays will roll with a closer-by-committee situation for the foreseeable future.

Whether or not Yates returns to a traditional ninth inning role — or even had one to begin with — isn’t something the Blue Jays will be thinking about now until at least May, with a flexor strain usually carrying a timeline in the range of four-to-six weeks.

It goes without saying that nothing is ever concrete when it comes to elbow issues.

The fact the Jays say they’re still gathering information and have given a vague timeline suggests they’re not even sure at this point how long Yates will be gone for.

Montoyo got used to this situation last year when closer Ken Giles suffered an elbow injury on the opening weekend of the season, forcing the Jays to mix and match for two months.

“It could be anybody, any day … almost like we did last year,” Montoyo said Monday night as he explained how they’ll go about it starting next Thursday against the Yankees. “We’ve got options. The good thing is we have high-leverage guys. Of course, a big loss, losing Kirby. We all know that.

“It’s a big blow, but we’re lucky that our bullpen’s deep enough that we can hang in there until Kirby comes back.”

Signed to an incentive-laden one-year deal with $5.5 guaranteed, Yates only made two Grapefruit League appearances this month, striking out a pair in a clean inning on Saturday.

While his velocity had been down a touch this spring, he had looked good in bullpens, but Yates came to the Jays about his barking elbow after he had cooled down Saturday.

“He wasn’t looking too sharp for me, although he struck out two out of three,” Montoyo admitted. “I guess he felt something afterwards and then he mentioned it. That’s how we found out.”

With Yates out indefinitely, let’s take a look at the high-leverage options Montoyo has at his disposal.

JORDAN ROMANO

On the heels of a breakout 2020 season that was wiped out after just 14.2 innings due to a finger injury, Romano has been lights out again this spring. 

He tossed another dominant frame Monday against the Detroit Tigers and has now struck out 12 over five innings in Grapefruit League play.

If this was 1999 and we were worrying about Y2K instead of a pandemic, Romano would be the closer. Because that’s how bullpens worked back then.

But even with pitching coach Pete Walker calling him a future closer recently and the stuff to lock down the ninth inning being very evident, the Jays actually prefer his wipeout slider in a “most important outs” role, something Romano himself mentioned Monday as being enjoyable because it keeps him on his toes.

He’s their most important reliever and that may still ring true even when (if?) Yates returns.

RAFAEL DOLIS

A steal of a free-agent signing last off-season, Dolis ended up second on the team in saves last season to the now-departed Anthony Bass.

When his splitter is working, Dolis is filthy and he avoids giving up home runs, which is key in the ninth inning.

If you had to handicap save opportunities as of today, Dolis is probably the favourite given his usage last season and his lack of platoon splits.

The 33-year-old right-hander held left-handed hitters to a .638 OPS and righties didn’t stand a chance with just a .555 OPS.

That success against both sides helps mitigate the impact of the three batter minimum.

DAVID PHELPS

After an up-and-down 2020 campaign, Phelps could be this year’s Dolis as he’s making just $1.75 million and has looked sharp this spring.

Across five appearances, the 34-year-old has not allowed a hit, striking out 10 without issuing a free pass.

It doesn’t get any better than that. He’s now suddenly a very important part of this bullpen mix in the early going.

TYLER CHATWOOD

Similar to Phelps, Chatwood has been terrific this month in Florida, running up seven scoreless innings without a walk and just one hit allowed.

He’s likely to occupy more of a seventh inning mix-and-match role to start, but there will be days when the bullpen is depleted and Chatwood could find a save situation or two.

With the Jays facing 16 games in 16 days after an off-day on the second day of the season next Friday, all of the bullpen arms will be needed.

RYAN BORUCKI

While the first four on this list are the pitchers Montoyo mentioned by name Monday, Borucki’s left arm has to be included simply because it’ll be matchup based.

In his first season as a reliever last summer, Borucki was a serious problem for left-handed batters, holding them to .125 average and a measly .431 OPS.

If there’s a run of lefties, Borucki could find himself being used in a save situation.

JULIAN MERRYWEATHER

Here’s the sleeper of the group.

Merryweather without a doubt has closer’s stuff, but he hasn’t even pitched in a Grapefruit League game yet due to some back tightness, so it may take some time for the righty to work his way into high-leverage moments.

He did throw 34 pitches in a simulated game Sunday and Montoyo said his spring debut is on the horizon, giving him time to crack the opening day roster if there are no setbacks.

The Jays may prefer to make use of his four-pitch mix in two-inning stints, but Merryweather’s 97-mph heater and filthy changeup will play no matter what the situation is.​