Surprise! Blue Jays Designate Drew Storen for Assignment, Recall Ryan Tepera

In a relatively shocking move Sunday morning, the Blue Jays have designated right handed relief pitcher Drew Storen for assignment and have recalled Ryan Tepera to take his place on the roster. The Blue Jays will now have 10 days to waive, trade, release, or outright Storen to the minor leagues, the last of which he would likely refuse and become a free agent instead.

Ryan Tepera has been recalled. Drew Storen DFA'd #BlueJays

— Barry Davis (@SNBarryDavis) July 24, 2016

Despite cozying up to the fanbase soon after his January 8th trade to the Blue Jays with some clever Drake-related tweets, the 28-year-old Storen never got going for Toronto. A successful reliever with Washington since 2010, Storen entered this season with 334 innings under his belt and a career ERA of just 3.02. He had struck out 8.6 batters per nine innings and walked just 2.6 every nine. However, as soon as 2016 started, his numbers nosedived, and he was never able to recover. His April saw him give up nine earned runs in only eight innings pitched. He seemed to get back on track in May, pitching to a 3.86 ERA that month, but the underlying issues were still there, and Storen has now likely finished his Blue Jays tenure with a less-than-shiny 6.21 ERA in 33 1/3 innings pitched.

The exact reasons for Storen’s sudden disappearance of talent will likely never be known, but we can speculate that it was a combination of his slider stopping to slide as well as it did when he was younger, and a sharp drop in velocity this season. After averaging over 94 mph on his fastball with the Nationals, it was only at 92.5 mph this season, which can make unhittable pitches a lot easier to make contact with for opposing batters.

What this means for the Blue Jays bullpen is unclear at the moment, but it can be expected that a reliever will be added via trade in the next week leading up to the trade deadline. Storen was supposed to be the team’s set-up man heading into 2016, and because his colossal failure, John Gibbons has been throwing pitchers at the wall ever since to see if any of them will stick. Thankfully, Jason Grilli has, but with Brett Cecil also struggling, the team needs at least one more high end reliever for them to be in a good position heading into the final two months of the season.

Tepera, also 28, has been shuffled between Buffalo and Toronto this season frequently as he has options and isn’t good enough to stick around on a full time basis. In 4 2/3 innings pitched for Toronto in 2016, he has given up three earned runs. For Buffalo in AAA, he has a sparkling 2.95 ERA as the Bisons closer in 36 2/3 innings with 14 saves.

Lead Photo: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports