'All Hands on Deck': Jays Bullpen Takes Control After Stripling Injury
In just the third inning, the Blue Jays bullpen got the call.
"Immediately when that phone rings, everybody looks at each other like, 'No way, not this early,'" Adam Cimber said.
Most relievers prepare to always have their name called, especially during a doubleheader. But, given the success of Toronto's rotation lately, the early wake-up call came as a surprise.
Once the phone was put down and bodies started moving around Angel Stadium's visiting bullpen, Cimber said the rest of the relievers "played manager," mapping out how many innings the bullpen needed to cover and the order in which the team expected to do so.
"Everybody's all hands on deck, ready to go, the next inning," Cimber said.
It wasn't the sidearmer who got the nod in the third inning, but fellow mid-season acquisition Trevor Richards. The former Milwaukee Brewer breezed through the heart of the Los Angeles Angels depleted lineup, needing just eight pitches to retire the side in order. Richards held things down for two innings, before ceding to Cimber, who got his first five outs on 12 pitches.
Shiver Me Cimbers 🥶 pic.twitter.com/CgA3xMvGVN
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 11, 2021
With two outs in the fifth, Cimber let a slider slip out of his hands and into the shin area of Angels nine-stick Jack Mayfield. The mistake put the tying run on for home run king and AL MVP favourite Shohei Ohtani. But the right-hander didn't break a sweat, slinging three "rising" sliders to sit him down the Japanese phenom in a hurry.
"I hadn't faced [Ohtani] yet in my career," Cimber said. "Somebody who's got that kind of talent, it's pretty special to be on the same field as that guy. So, it was a cool experience. I'm glad I won the battle."
Jordan Romano made things interesting by loading the bases with two outs in the ninth, but blew a 99-mph fastball past Ohtani for the final out in the 4-0 Blue Jays win.
Toronto's bullpen dominated, but that wasn't how things were supposed to unfold. Blue Jays starter Ross Stripling exited the game with an oblique strain after pitching two scoreless innings. The 31-year-old will now undergo tests to determine the severity of his injury, but diagnosis of one of baseball's peskier injuries isn't very promising news.
"He's not going to make his next start, that's for sure," Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said.
No injury happens at a convenient time, but for Stripling, this one comes at one of the most pivotal points of his season—right as he was fighting to remain in the Blue Jays rotation. Stripling is now destined for a relief role once he's able to return, and—depending on how far the injury sets him back—that could be his job for the rest of the season.
"Like I always say, you can never have enough pitching because you don't know what's going to happen," Montoyo said. "And today we lost a good pitcher.
"We'll see how long we're gonna lose him for. Hopefully it's not too long, but, now, for sure [Steven] Matz is going to make that next start, and we'll see where Ross is after we check him tomorrow to figure out if we lose him for a long time or not."
Big picture, the Blue Jays split the doubleheader against the Angels and still gained a half-game on the Boston Red Sox, who've now lost 10 of their last 12. A win and a loss isn't the Blue Jays' desired result against a banged-up .500 club, but it's certainly not a deplorable one either. With Alek Manoah on the mound Wednesday, and a full nine innings to work, the Blue Jays will look to inch even closer to the top of the AL wildcard race.
Ethan Diamandas is a contributing writer who covers the Toronto Blue Jays for Sports Illustrated. He also writes for Yahoo Sports Canada and MLB.com. Follow Ethan on Twitter @EthanDiamandas