DUNEDIN, Fla. – At first glance there’s not a whole lot of opportunity in the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen. Five spots are accounted for, and a wide range of contestants will challenge for the remaining two openings.

But there’s more opportunity than it seems. MLB teams churn through relievers constantly during the season, so many of Toronto’s bullpen hopefuls will be needed at the big-league level whether they break camp with the team or not.

“That’s how you approach it,” Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker said. “You really want to build as much depth as possible. You certainly don’t want to be caught short-handed. I like the group that we have right now. Those extra bodies that we have right now are going to get plenty of work, plenty of exposure, plenty of opportunities for us to see them, because at certain points of the season they’ll be counted on to come up and step in for some big moments.”

MLB pitchers since 1998 1998 • 557

1999 • 585

2000 • 606

2001 • 591

2002 • 609

2003 • 612

2004 • 632

2005 • 606

2006 • 635

2007 • 666

2008 • 651

2009 • 664

2010 • 635

2011 • 662

2012 • 662

2013 • 679

2014 • 692

2015 • 735

2016 • 742



Last year, big-league clubs set an all-time record, using 742 different pitchers in regular season games. It wasn’t a one-year blip either. Teams have now set new records for pitchers used in four consecutive seasons.

That shift suggests the opening day roster matters less than ever. While players still hope to break camp with the team, long gone are the days when the Blue Jays used 13 or 14 pitchers in a season, the way they did from 1981-1984. They’ll probably need that many arms to get through Week 1, and the total will keep building from there.

“That’s usually what happens,” Walker said. “Guys make that opening day roster and there could be a change in the first seven to 10 days, so it’s disappointing when you don’t make that opening day roster, but I think that the guys who have been around understand that things can change quick.

“Just because you’re not there the first day, you can still get just about a full season at the major-league level if things work out.”

Last year, the Blue Jays needed 29 pitchers to get through the season, even though their starting staff stayed exceptionally healthy. That total exceeds the MLB average for 2016, though not by much; on average, big-league teams used 27.5 pitchers last year.

Put another way, the 12 or 13 pitchers who open the season on a staff represent less than half of the arms eventually used in the course of the season. As a result, there’s more opportunity than there originally seems, a reality that’s not lost on the pitchers themselves.

“Bullpens are used a lot differently now than they were in the past,” said right-hander Chris Smith, one of the many pitchers competing for Toronto’s two open bullpen spots. “Just being in the mix and being talked about as someone who could be up there at any point in time is exciting.”

Why the change in bullpen usage? Teams appear to have determined that they can get more out of relievers if they ask for short, max-effort outings. If that means more roster moves, so be it.

The numbers suggest the approach works, as MLB relievers struck out 8.70 batters per nine innings last year, up from 7.29 a decade earlier. They’re also throwing harder, averaging 93 m.p.h., up from 91.3 in 2006. You don’t find much slop in MLB bullpens these days.

In Toronto, five relievers appear to have spots locked in: Roberto Osuna, Jason Grilli, Joe Biagini, J.P. Howell and Joe Smith. That leaves the likes of Danny Barnes, Aaron Loup, Ryan Tepera, Matt Dermody, Chris Smith, Mike Bolsinger, Bo Schultz, Glenn Sparkman and Mat Latos competing for two open spots.

Complicating matters, Latos has an opt-out at the end of spring training that will allow him to leave if he’s not going to be rostered. Sparkman, a Rule 5 pick, will have to be offered back to the Royals if he doesn’t make the team. Along those lines, Bolsinger and Schultz are out of options and would have to clear waivers if sent to the minor leagues.

“Hopefully I end up on the team,” Schultz said. “I think I’ve proven over the past couple of years that I can at least contribute to this team. If not, if they don’t see me in that plan, hopefully another team gives me an opportunity.”

Generally speaking, teams give out of options players a long look to preserve organizational depth.

“All of that stuff comes into play,” Walker said. “That’s baseball. I think everybody knows that in that locker room, yet we still want to break with our best, so the guys that are sharpest and throwing the best certainly would get the edge.”

There’s still a lot of time ahead to make an impression. With more than a month of spring training games remaining, Walker plans to watch closely with the long view in mind.

“There’s always some guys who need to certainly come up and fill in, maybe even for a longer period of time than initially anticipated,” he said. “We have plenty of guys who can fill that role right now. We’re probably 12 or 13 deep as far as I’m concerned with some power arms, some guys with major-league experience, some guys who can definitely make the team out of camp.”

Chances are, the Blue Jays will need most of them at some point this season.