Blue Jays Spotlight: Borucki’s Role in 2022

Ryan Broucki us the longest tenured Blue Jays and his role with the club is somewhat up in the air heading into the 2022 season

Featured Images Courtesy Of DaveMe Images. Prints Available For Purchase

The Toronto Blue Jays have built a rather effective bullpen over the second half of the 2021 season. The addition of Adam Cimber and Trevor Richards helped stabalize a bullpen that struggled mightily in the opening months of last season. The group that will begin the coming season is much improved, but question marks remain. One of those questions is Ryan Borucki and what role the longest tenured Blue Jay will serve.

Drafted in the 15th round of the 2012 draft, Borucki will be 28 when the 2022 season begins. The left handed hurler featured a change up that was fun to watch. He was brought up to be a starter, but the injury bug would have other plans for him. He made his debut in 2018, making 17 starts to a 4-6 record, a respectable ERA of 3.87 (FIP of 3.79) and 1.7 fWAR in 97 innings.

From then on, he would only collect 24 total innings between the minors and the big leagues in 2019 (two starts) that saw him pitch to a 10.80 ERA. Those two starts ended his time as a starter and when he was healthy, he was used out of the bullpen in 2020. That shift in role led to n ERA of 2.70 (FIP of 3.61) in 16.2 innings. His strike out numbers were way up (28.8%), but so too were his walks (16.4%). It was safe to say that injuries messed with his command. 2021 saw him continue his role as a reliever, when called upon by the big league club. He would see action in 24 games (23.2 innings) and he had minimal success: 13 ER, 11 BB, 21 SO, 5.66 FIP. It was particularly telling that the club chose to play without him on the roster in the final games of the 2021 season where they were trying to reach a playoff spot.

Standard Pitching

Year	Age	Lg	W	L	ERA	G	GS	GF	SHO	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	FIP	WHIP
2012	18	Rk	1	0	3.00	4	0	1	0	6.0	4	2	1	0	10		0.667
2014	20	Rk,A-	3	2	2.37	13	10	1	0	57.0	39	15	3	9	52		0.842
2015	21	A-,Rk	0	1	3.18	3	2	0	0	5.2	7	2	0	3	7		1.765
2016	22	A,A+	11	8	4.18	26	26	0	0	135.2	145	63	11	38	117		1.349
2017	23	A+,AA,AAA	8	8	2.93	27	26	1	0	150.1	132	49	7	36	157		1.118
2018	24	AAA	6	5	3.27	13	13	0	1	77.0	62	28	6	28	58		1.169
2018	24	AL	4	6	3.87	17	17	0	0	97.2	96	42	7	33	67	3.79	1.321
2019	25	AAA,A+,Rk	1	0	3.00	4	4	0	0	18.0	12	6	4	3	19		0.833
2019	25	AL	0	1	10.80	2	2	0	0	6.2	15	8	2	6	6	8.01	3.150
2020	26	AL	1	1	2.70	21	0	1	0	16.2	12	5	1	12	21	3.61	1.440
2021	27	AAA	0	0	2.89	9	0	0	0	9.1	5	3	0	8	12		1.393
2021	27	AL	3	1	4.94	24	0	6	0	23.2	18	13	5	11	21	5.66	1.225
4 Yr	4 Yr	4 Yr	8	9	4.23	64	19	7	0	144.2	141	68	15	62	115	4.27	1.403
162	162	162	7	7	4.23	52	16	6	0	119	116	56	12	51	94	4.27	1.403

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/6/2022.

So, where does Borucki fit in moving forward? With Tim Mayza all but cementing his spot in the bullpen as the go to lefty, it would appear Borucki doesn’t necessarily have an obvious role in 2022. Moreover, JFtC’s Steve Fek has argued that the Blue Jays need to look for additional lefty support for the bullpen, arguing that any of the in house options aren’t enough to cover for, or add to Mayza. Steve points out that Borucki is out of options, so he could be exposed to waivers if he doesn’t find enough of his previous success to make the club to start the season.

This is the crux of why Borucki’s role is not clear. If he had options remaining, it would be reasonable to expect that he returns to form, or returns to Buffalo. Now, if he does not make the club out of the gate, he will have to be exposed to waivers. There are likely several teams who would like to take a chance on a 28 yr old lefty. And, why not? There are some things to like about Borucki’s 2021 season, even if the end results weren’t so hot.

Looking at some key metrics at Fangraphs, Borucki may present some interest for other clubs (or some signs to keep him in a Blue Jays uniform. To start with, 2021 saw Borucki produce the highest WPA (Win Probability Added) of his career at 0.59. WPA measures a player’s ability to directly impact the fortunes of his team and is adjusted for context. So, coming in in “big” moments versus not means something. He had 6 SD (Shut Downs) to 2 MD (Melt Downs) as well. Borucki also had a Clutch rating of 0.97, which is considered a Great performance in that category, with 0.0 being Average and 0.5 being Above Average.

Something else to note about Borucki is the adjustment in pitch usage from year to year. When he came to the big leagues in 2018, he threw his fastball 58.7% of the time and his change up 23.3%. He also threw a slider 18% of the time. 2019 saw his usage change a little: FB: 52.3%, SL: 27.1%, CH: 20.6%. 2020 saw things change again: FB: 48.1%, CH: 14% and he introduced a cutter at 37.9%. In 2021, his FB usage was back up to its original 58%, his CT increased to 32.8% and his CH was reduced even further to 8.9%. Even more interesting is the fact that as his usage changed, so too did the velocity on his fastball, which is more of a sinker. It went from 91.5 mph in 2018 to 95.3 mph in 2021. This combined with a CT that sits at 86 mph and a CH that averages 84 mph tells me that the club has gone all in on making him a reliever and getting the most out of his arm.

With an offseason of health and an altered approach under his belt, perhaps, Borucki can find some success and return to the Blue Jays’ bullpen for good. We’ve seen others do so in the past. Specifically, Brett Cecil followed a similar transition and was very effective in the 2015 postseason run. Could Borucki do the same? There are reasons to think so and with no clear Mayza back up standing out, Borucki will likely get every chance to prove he can.

Of course, as Steve mentioned in his piece, Borucki could also find himself pitching elsewhere as a complimentary piece in a bigger trade. Surely, the Blue Jays could point to the above numbers as signs of him turning things around, thus making him an interesting addition for another club’s big star. He wouldn’t be the headliner, or course, but another team could be willing to take a gamble and, if he turns things around, use him as a July Trade Deadline piece to get themselves something younger.

Make no mistake, there is value in Ryan Borucki. Yes, he’s struggled, but the injuries that he has had to battle through would do that to you. However, there are signs that he could be turning the corner and making necessary adjustment to remake himself as a valuable bullpen piece. The question is whether he will do so in a Blue Jays uniform or not. Likely, the front office will give him a long look whenever Spring Training starts. Of course, the shorter Spring Training is, the more difficult this decision becomes.