Bullpen woes the latest to fell troubled last-place Blue Jays

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So what now?

It’s the almost weekly question surrounding a Blue Jays team that is performing below its muted expectations and is still desperately seeking to find its way.

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And for something new, there’s a fresh crisis facing manager John Schneider and his 16-19 team that surely used Monday’s off day to blow off steam from an embarrassing big blown lead loss in Washington the previous day.

A team not so patiently waits for the offence to show a pulse (and perhaps eventually even heat up) now is dealing with the grimness of a bullpen veering towards a state of crisis.

Once a position of strength, the bullpen has been a liability as the eye test from its most recent loss screams and the numbers back up. The Jays relievers group has allowed the most home runs (tied with Tampa Bay at 22) and owns the highest ERA (5.31) in the majors.

While this is no surprise, given the events of the past couple of weeks and the overall health of the group, it is nonetheless alarming. And it certainly piles on even more pressure to a starting rotation that has been carrying the team and an offence that isn’t offering near enough.

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Starter Kevin Gausman has alluded to it after recent outings when he expressed frustration at not going deeper in the game to protect the ’pen.

Flashback to Sunday when Schneider allowed Alek Manoah to remain in the game, even after the lug nuts were loosened and the wheels began to fall from the big right hander, who was making his first start since last August.

In a perfect world — and especially with the rare luxury of a 6-1 lead — the manager would have ended Manoah’s afternoon after the first sign of wobble and dialled up the bullpen shut down an important win.

Instead, a procession off Genesis Cabrera, Erik Swanson and Nate Pearson — each of them with an ERA north of six — continued the implosion that led to a dispiriting 11-8 defeat.

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While this is not a defence of Schneider’s decision, what choice did the man have but to try to will five innings of minimal damage from Manoah?

Yimi Garcia, so potently effective early in the season, wasn’t available on the weekend due to an injury that has yet to send him to the injury list, a spot Chad Green currently finds himself.

But for the guys on the roster, there have been issues. The three who helped cough it up on Sunday have had their issues of late, as has lefty Tim Mayza. Swanson, who was on the injured list to start the season, has struggled the most, allowing four homers in his six innings of work this season, contributing to a bloated ERA of 16.50.

It’s crisis after crisis with this team, beyond the four arms at the front end of the rotation. And now, after going 1-2 against the Nats, the Jays have dropped four consecutive series, are alone in last place in the American League East and have five teams between them and the final AL wild card speed.

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Sobering stuff for a Monday break prior to a pair in Philadelphia against a sizzling Phillies team.

OH MAN, MANOAH

While Sunday’s effort by Manoah was a disaster in the way it unravelled, Schneider said afterwards that he saw enough to keep the big righty in the rotation. For now.

So what did he see that was so inspirational? Was it the six strikeouts? Was it a more efficient delivery?

Perhaps Schneider and his staff see enough for Manoah to build on, coupled with the fact that it was a his first big-league start in nine months and there’s room to settle back into a routine.

But the reality of it all is that the Jays barely have a choice and thus, a guy who gave up six earned runs (including a pair of homers off of six hits and four walks) gets another crack at figuring it out.

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If the pitching depth that was a liability a year ago and was a strength when camp broke in March, it’s far from it now. A fifth spot in the rotation that was up for grabs has yet to be filled and is now a bigger question than ever.

Bowden Francis, who “won” that spot in spring training, lost it to Yariel Rodriguez and then went to the injury list. Rodriguez, the off-season, free-agent signing showed some promise (though not signs of a permanent solution) and then also went to the IL with a back injury.

Meanwhile, the prospect salvation in waiting, Ricky Tiedemann, is also injured indefinitely pushing back his prospects for a major league debut.

ORDER, ORDER

Nothing wrong with Schneider juggling the order for a benign offence needing something — as he did by dropping Bo Bichette from the top two on the weekend — but the head scratcher of it all is how George Springer remains the leadoff man.

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After a 1-for-5 effort in that demoralizing 11-8 loss to the Nats – including three strikeouts — Springer is batting a miserable .205 with just three homers in 35 games.

The man behind him, Vlad Guerrero Jr., did hit a grand slam on Sunday (prompting his miming of placing a pretend home run jacket on his back) is hitting a mediocre .239 and has 32 strikeouts.

Going full circle and returning to previous versions of the Jays “what now?” woes, until there is decent production from those in the top four of the order not named Justin Turner, there will be troubles.

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