The Toronto Blue Jays have made a move in an attempt to upgrade their bullpen, acquiring reliever Jason Grilli from the Atlanta Braves, per Robert Murray of Baseball Essential.
#BlueJays acquiring Jason Grilli from #Braves in exchange for Sean Ratcliffe, sources say. Story coming soon on @BB_Essential.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) May 31, 2016
The move makes great sense for Atlanta. Grilli is 39, and as such, he serves no real purpose in the Braves’ rebuilding process. Ratcliffe has been primarily used as a reliever in Low A ball this year, posting a solid 3.60 ERA with a 1.30 WHIP. As his 6.8 K’s per nine would indicate, he’s not a high-ceiling prospect, but he’s certainly a guy who could slot into a spot in the Atlanta bullpen down the road.
To a degree, the move makes sense for Toronto, as well. The Blue Jays could definitely use bullpen help, as their relievers currently rank 16th in ERA (3.89) and 19th in WHIP (1.34). The problem is that Grilli is in the midst of a terrible season. He has a 5.29 ERA and 1.71 WHIP. Grilli does possess a solid strikeout rate of 12.2 per nine innings. Unfortunately, he’s also walked 13 hitters in only 17 innings, leading to a gaudy average of 6.9 per nine innings.
These are the kind of moves that aren’t given many thoughts when they happen, but they often yield big moments in September and October. Unfortunately, Grilli has a long way to go to think that will happen in any positive way for the Blue Jays.
Relievers need to throw strikes, and that walk rate indicates that Grilli is really struggling in that regard. If those struggles continue, it’s hard to imagine that Grilli will even be on a Major League roster come September, let alone making big pitches in a pennant race.