Blue Jays bullpen stronger with Venditte

By: Jay Blue

Canadian Baseball Network

The Blue Jays head into the second game of the series against the New York Yankees with a 3-5 record and Brett Cecil off to a slow start. As a result, the Jays are turning to Buffalo to bolster their bullpen's effectiveness against left-handed hitting by recalling switch-pitcher Pat Venditte to the major league and designated Arnold Leon for assignment.

Leon has not impressed for the Jays, particularly since giving up a home run to the first batter he faced as a Blue Jay. He's compiled a 7.71 ERA over 2 1/3 innings, giving up another run in his only other appearance but, with Joe Biagini striking out two and not giving up any runs in his two innings of work this season, Leon was the odd man out of the bullpen and wound up getting designated by the Blue Jays on Wednesday.

Venditte, on the other hand, has been lights out in his two appearances for the Buffalo Bisons this year, facing only six batters and striking out five of them. While Venditte is being called up thanks to his effectiveness against lefties last year, it appears that all of the batters whom he has faced in 2016 have hit from the right side, making his effectiveness all the more impressive.

This move actually realigns the Buffalo Bisons' bullpen to being exactly what I had predicted in my Project Roster post on the Bisons pitchers.