As the Jays enter a series with the Chicago White Sox, they once again have 13 pitchers on the active roster. This is nothing new of late, as the Jays front office seems to make a move to the 25 or 40 man roster every couple of days, for the sole purpose of adding a meaningless arm to the back-end of the bullpen.
Where the value?
A useful stat to use to judge the value of relievers can be the Leverage Index. The full Fan Graphs explanation is here. The cliff notes version: Average game situations are 1.0, leverage scores move upwards in tighter situations (1.80 leverage score for closer Santos) and goes down for low leverage, mop-up duty type work (0.06 for Coello).
Here’s a collection of some of the recent call-ups. Instead of simply posting their low leverage numbers here is a quick summation of their recent appearances in regards to the time they entered a game.
Evan Crawford
Last three appearances
1. Enters down 6-0 in the 8th
2. Enters down 6-0 in the 5th
3. Enters up 14-1 in the 7th
Ryota Igarashi
Two appearances
1. Enters down 8-1 in 5th
2. Enters ahead 7-5 in 13th (the only high leverage appearance amongst this group)
Robert Coello
One appearance
1. Enters down 7-2 in the 8th
Jesse Chavez
One appearance
1. Enters down 9-1 in the 4th
And let’s not even start with the Aaron Laffey type moves (i.e. called up for depth, not used during stint on active roster).
Over my head
I just don’t see the value in these type of roster moves.
Let Jeff Mathis throw a few more innings in mop-up duty, I’d rather have an additional positional player on the roster.
Notes: Leverage and box scores via Fan Graphs and B-Ref. Image via Fan Graphs