BJ Ryan

[dorje3]

Strange that BJ pitched the 8th tonight, rather than the 9th, in a close game with a disinct save opp.
Anyone watch the game?

[Figgy Cent]

Yeah, I watched it.

The Jays commentators found it strange to see him come out in the 8th inning....they figured he was going to pitch the 8th and 9th. He had a great 8th inning...9 pitches, no sign of trouble or pain in the arm.

Then.. he went into the tunnel with the trainer after he was done in the 8th inning. But he wasn't grimacing or anything....might have just been precautionary.

Also, the Jays were up one run when BJ was in, and then they scored two more in the 9th which might have been why they didn't want BJ going back out there with a comfortable lead.

I think he's fine.

[siQ_innovation]

Well, BJ getting me the HLD was more helpful than the save. I needed one more HLD to win the caption and I was losing miserably in saves so it wouldn't have mattered.

[Moose on the loose]

Bo Jr is fine. He threw about 9 pitches (in the 8th inning) but had a lengthy stint on the bench while the Jays bats got on a roll in the top of the 9th. The Jays commentators speculated that Gibbons decided to play it safe and not have BJ to pitch the 9th after sitting for so long.

[Montana]

Apr 27 Ryan pitched the eighth inning on Sunday rather than the ninth, with Jesse Carlson coming into the ninth to get the save.
Recommendation: We doubt that there's a role change at work here, but rather a case where the Jays wanted to ensure Ryan got into the game with it still on the line. The Jays were winning by one run when he came in and then scored two more runs in the ninth. He had pitched just one inning (on Thursday) in the last eight days coming into Sunday.

[denicola_dominates]

soo is he going to assume that role as the closer for a long period of timee??whats the deal or is he going to continue to be a setup guyy for the jays

[am03bd]

He'll remain the closer for the year unless something drastic (injury) happens. As someone said before, he had gone a while without pitching and I'm assuming the team just wanted him to pitch an inning in a save/hold position rather than blow another 8th inning lead and have him sit another day. Having him come in the 8th assured that he would come in with a lead and be in a common game situation for him rather than pitch him in a comeback situation. Also, the fact the lead was extended to 3 rather than 1 for the 9th clearly made the decision to keep him out of the game easier.

Ryan owners do not worry, you will continue to get saves just as long as the Jays start winning some close games rather than lose every one.

[tmlfan4ever]

The Jays needed to bust out of a slump and the pen gave up a 5-spot in the 8th inning of the last game. BJ owners should take comfort that the team NEEDED him to get 3 outs in the most crucial spot... which just happened to be the 8th and not the 9th.