Consider the Toronto Blue Jays battle for left field settled.
After the so-call competition between Travis Snider and Eric Thames that kicked off spring training, it turns out that the player who the Blue Jays want to patrol left field is…neither. The Blue Jays moved Thames to the Seattle Mariners today, getting reliever Steve Delabar in return.
The 29-year old Delabar is a hard throwing righty in his first full season in the bigs. A former starter as a prospect with the San Diego Padres, Delabar has been excellent in relief for the Mariners this season, posting a 11.29 K/9 to a 2.70 BB/9, with opponents batting just .174 off him. The problem? When he’s given up hits this year, they’ve tended to get hit hard. Hard enough for homers, that is. Delabar’s HR/FB rate current sites at 27.3%, which I would guess is fairly unlucky, especially considering he generates more ground balls than fly balls.
With the Blue Jays adding Brad Lincoln, and now Delabar’s power fastball/slider arm in the late innings, the team’s (rather crowded) bullpen has received quite a boost over the last few hours. Along with JA Happ, this now makes a trio of relievers that the Blue Jays have added leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline, and no starting pitcher just yet. Is this just a sign that the Blue Jays are going after a plan B, if plan A was to acquire starters? Is this stockpiling of relievers a precursor to other moves in the works?
Answers to come at the deadline tomorrow, I’m sure.
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