Nate Pearson should be pitching in more high-pressure sitautons for the Blue Jays moving forward

So far this year, the Blue Jays bullpen has seen its fair share of struggles and some bounce-back candidates that are performing well in their roles after struggling at times last season. Alongside Pearson, relievers Tim Mayza, Erik Swanson, and Trevor Richards all boast sub-4.00 ERAs while closer Jordan Romano sports a 3.00 ERA with 12 saves on the season. On the flip side, Cimber and Anthony Bass have struggled on the mound this year and Yimi García has been one the worst of the bunch, amassing a 6.46 ERA with a 1.563 WHIP through 25 outings.

García was one of the most dependable relief arms last season for the Blue Jays but this year, he is struggling to get outs in high-pressure situations, owning a 10.38 ERA while opponents are authoring a 1.069 OPS, .520 BAbip, and 10 earned runs through 8 2/3 innings in the eighth inning alone. Oddly enough, his other appearances outside of the eighth have gone well except for his two appearances in extra innings (another high-pressure situation), where he has allowed four earned runs through 10 at-bats. A similar sample size is his seventh-inning appearances, where through 8 1/3 innings of work, García boasts a 2.13 ERA while limiting opponents to a .194 average, allowing just two earned runs through 31 at-bats, both of which were solo home runs.

As a unit, the Blue Jays have been dreadful in the eighth inning, owning a collective 6.50 ERA while allowing 39 earned runs, the most of any inning past the fifth. Swanson has the most experience in the eighth but the likes of García, Cimber, Bass, and even Zach Pop in this position have not yielded the results the Jays need in such an important part of the game. This data also shows that Jordan Romano doesn’t fair well in the eighth inning as well, allowing three runs through six at-bats, almost pointing towards that Romano needs the increased pressure in the ninth inning.