A.J. Cole's success fits into Blue Jays' recipe

Lost in the hype surrounding Jordan Romano and the disappointment in Ken Giles going down with an elbow injury has been A.J. Cole, another arm in a long line of down-market bullpen additions that the Blue Jays have hit on.

Cole has opened the 2020 season with eight scoreless appearances (9 2/3 innings), and he’s looked just as sharp as that clean line suggests. When Romano moved from the middle innings to the back end of the bullpen, it left a perfect opening for Cole to step into as a movable, high-leverage arm for manager Charlie Montoyo.

As a former top prospect who came up as a starter with the Nationals, Cole, 28, has also been a resource for the Blue Jays’ young pitchers down in the bullpen. Coming up in Washington, Cole had pitchers like Max Scherzer, Gio González and Jordan Zimmermann to lean on as a young hurler, and he has tried to offer similar guidance to his new Toronto teammates.

Looking back on the last few seasons in Toronto, Cole, a Minor League signing this past offseason, fits right into a trend of success the Blue Jays have had finding value on the relief market:

2017: RHP Joe Smith (one year, $3 million)
The durable veteran gave the Blue Jays four solid months in a late-innings role, pitching to a 3.28 ERA with 51 strikeouts over just 35 2/3 innings, the highest strikeouts-per-nine (12.9) of his career. At the Deadline, the Blue Jays flipped Smith to Cleveland for lefty Thomas Pannone and infielder Samad Taylor. Pannone has already pitched 116 innings in the Majors for the Blue Jays, while Taylor, 22, reached Class A Advanced Dunedin in 2019.

2018: RHP Seunghwan Oh (one year, $1.75 million, plus club option)
Oh was excellent in early 2018, with a 2.68 ERA and great peripherals, giving the Blue Jays strong value on their dollar as he was coming off a down year with the Cardinals. Toronto dealt Oh to the Rockies in late July for a package that included first baseman Chad Spanberger, outfielder Forrest Wall and right-hander Bryan Baker.

Baker has legitimate bullpen potential for the Blue Jays relatively soon, with a fastball pushing 100 mph, while Wall is part of the club’s current 60-man player pool. Spanberger was the prospect Toronto flipped to the Brewers this past November for Chase Anderson.

2018: RHP Tyler Clippard (Minor League deal, $1.5 million in MLB)
Clippard, like John Axford on that 2018 team, stayed with the Blue Jays through the Trade Deadline. He still brought value to the club, though, pitching to a 3.67 ERA with 85 strikeouts over 68 2/3 innings. Clippard rolled that over into a nice 2019 season with Cleveland, and he is off to another strong start this year with the Twins.

2019: RHP Daniel Hudson (one year, $1.5 million)
Coming off a 3.00 ERA over 45 appearances early last season, the Blue Jays sent Hudson to Washington, where he went on to record the final out of the 2019 World Series. In the deal, the Toronto acquired right-hander Kyle Johnston, a 2017 sixth-rounder, who pitched for Dunedin in '19.

2019: RHP David Phelps (one year, $2.5 million, plus club option)This deal has the potential to look even better a few seasons down the road. The Blue Jays sent Phelps, who posted a 3.63 ERA over 17 outings for them in 2019, to the Cubs for right-handed pitching prospect Thomas Hatch. A surprise star in Summer Camp, Hatch has already made the leap to the Major League roster and owns a 2.70 ERA over his first 10 innings this season.

Latest on Bichette
Bo Bichette is getting a second opinion on his sprained right knee after hitting the 10-day injured list on Sunday. The Blue Jays don’t have a timeline for his return just yet, and in his place at shortstop you can expect some combination of Joe Panik, Santiago Espinal and Brandon Drury.

Panik got the nod in Monday's series opener in Baltimore, and Toronto will need to see some offensive production out of the veteran soon.

“He’s going to get more of a chance now to get regular at-bats and he’s hit before in the big leagues,” Montoyo said, “so I’m sure he will hit.”

Extras
• Expect to see Randal Grichuk batting second, behind Cavan Biggio as long as he’s hitting. Montoyo likes that lineup with Grichuk starting to find his groove at the plate.

• Anthony Bass wasn’t available on Sunday due to back tightness, but he was “feeling better” on Monday, per Montoyo -- good enough to return for an appearance in Toronto's 7-2 win over the Orioles.

• Veteran infielder Rubén Tejada is another option the Blue Jays have talked about from their alternate training site with Bichette out, Montoyo said.