Where did I say it wasn't? Obviously I wasn't talking about those games.
The bullpen is not even an issue if those guys get just one hit when the bases were loaded with NOBODY out. Twice. You need to analyze the WHOLE game and not just depend on recency bias.
**And the very moment I type that, I watch the Jays hit into yet another double play.
You're going to complain about "recency bias" in my post when you're concerned about the offence faltering last game as opposed to the bullpen coughing it up again, which they've done numerous times throughout the season?
the Blue Jays are:
6th in position player fWAR,
2nd in team wRC+,
2nd in OPS,
4th in OBP,
2nd in Avg,
2nd in wOBA,
3rd in total runs scored,
1st in HR,
6th in doubles,
10th in stolen bases,
2nd in strikeout rate (ranking lowest to highest)
The offence is really, really, really good. It might be having a rough couple of games, but I'm easily betting on them to rebound from that especially now that Springer is a regular in the lineup. Their short term faltering is of almost no concern to me.
Conversely, the Blue Jays bullpen:
19th in 'pen fWAR
4th in losses (most to least)
12th in walk rate (highest to lowest)
23rd in ERA- (I assume adjusted to all pitchers' league average, including starters)
16th in total WPA
23rd in -WPA (ie when things go bad they go really super bad)
17th in Clutch WPA index
The pen has been mediocre at best, really bad at worst. The rotation hasn't helped either. Starter numbers show similar rankings as well, though with potentially more hope for upside.
The bullpen is a bigger issue. People are going to carp on Charlie putting in Murphy over Cimber on Wednesday because it's an ongoing example of the same sorts of things that he's been doing all season. Meanwhile people aren't going to get upset about the top of the order struggling because that's something new and random that we don't expect to happen and probably don't believe it's going to continue moving forward.
I think the people who aren't concerned about the offence are the ones evaluating the WHOLE game. Because evaluating the whole game is what tells you to worry about the stuff that happens with regularity, not the stuff you didn't see coming.
Also the offence still scored 6 runs on Wednesday. That should, more often than not, win you a game. Especially if the relief pitchers are deployed in a sensible manner.
If an offence that has an irregularly bad time at the plate still gives you 6 runs, I don't see the problem. I do see the problem in a pen where Kay and Romano were good, but Thornton and Murphy surrendered 5 runs in less than 2 innings where they probably shouldn't have been in those situations in the first place.
