Reyes’ Win Will Wait

Image courtesy of Daylife via Reuters Pictures

Jo-Jo Reyes has been waiting a really long time to get the winless monkey off his back. He hasn’t been victorious since June 13th of 2008, and now that streak will continue courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays.

With his spot in the rotation hanging in the balance, Reyes certainly pitched well enough to win. If anything, Jo-Jo at least bought himself a little more time in the starting rotation and will likely get a couple more starts.

It seemed like upper management’s patience was growing very thin with Jo-Jo Reyes. Most telling of all was John Farrell’s quote the other day: “he would do himself a world of good by having a good game”.

It’s hard to tell whether Farrell had a sarcastic undertone, but that’s the equivalent of your superior saying “it’s in your best interest to show up and not set the building on fire today”.

Had Jo-Jo Reyes picked up the win and pitched a complete game for example, I still don’t think it would change very much. Reyes seems to be a placeholder for whomever the Blue Jays decide will eventually become the number four starter.

Ever since the Blue Jays decided to slot Jo-Jo Reyes into the starting rotation, I’ve thought of him as Dana Eveland circa 2010. He’s an okay short term solution, but there’s no way Reyes is going to be around in the foreseeable future.

Not that anyone’s really banging down the door in Las Vegas or New Hampshire, but maybe Alex Anthopoulos and John Farrell are keeping Reyes in the rotation to get him as much work as possible and possibly build his trade value.

As the race begins to heat up in July and August, there are always teams out there who are looking for stopgap starting pitching to shore up the back end of their rotation. Jo-Jo Reyes just might fit in with those plans for a prospective trade partner.

Some might be upset Jo-Jo Reyes continues to take the mound every five days or so, but really what other alternatives are there for the Blue Jays? Scott Richmond and Brad Mills seem like the only viable options at this point.

For the time being, I say let Jo-Jo Reyes pitch for his life, but the moment the Blue Jays want to bring someone in from the minors to supplant him, it’s time to either cut the cord or move Reyes to the bullpen.

Who knows – maybe Jo-Jo Reyes would be a great middle relief candidate? Unless he continues to pitch the way he did last night, his lack of options may have him out the door before we can say the second Jo in Jo-Jo.