A closer look at every 'pen in the AL East

Stacked with hard-throwing relievers, clubs in the American League East will be looking to replicate the dominance of the Rays’ “Stable” from 2020 as they hope to make a deep postseason run of their own in 2021.

As we wrap up the Around The Horn series, let’s take a look at how these American League East bullpens stack up.

BLUE JAYS

The known: The back end of the Blue Jays’ bullpen is fairly clear, with Kirby Yates expected to have first crack at the closer’s job while Rafael Dolis, Jordan Romano and Tyler Chatwood handle the high-leverage innings. Ryan Borucki will be the high-leverage lefty joining them. This builds on the Blue Jays’ 2020 group, which finally featured more power arms for manager Charlie Montoyo to move around, especially through the middle innings. With plenty of tight ball games expected against the Yankees and Rays atop the AL East, a shutdown bullpen will be key, and the Blue Jays have the firepower to pull it off.

The unknown: The other half of Toronto’s bullpen is less clear, and it’s tied closely to the rotation. With multi-inning relievers and piggyback strategies expected to be featured throughout the season as the Blue Jays build back up to a full 162 games, expect the club to cycle their young starters through a variety of roles. This evolving group will include Ross Stripling, Thomas Hatch, Anthony Kay, Julian Merryweather, Trent Thornton and T.J. Zeuch. There’s clearly no shortage of options, but the makeup of this group of multi-inning arms will depend just as much on the need to cover innings as their game-to-game performances.

-- Keegan Matheson

ORIOLES

The known: The Orioles' bullpen was much improved in last year’s small sample, despite the departures of stalwarts Mychal Givens, Miguel Castro and Richard Bleier via trade. The reason was breakouts from hard-throwing lefty Tanner Scott, Paul Fry and the emergence of Swiss army knife Cesar Valdez. Valdez is being stretched out this spring, and Hunter Harvey appears poised to join Scott in handling high-leverage situations. Shawn Armstrong, Cole Sulser, Dillon Tate and Travis Lakins Sr. return as primary options in middle relief. They’ll be joined by at least one bulk-inning type, likely a runner-up from the O’s rotation competition.

The unknown: Who is the closer? Brandon Hyde has yet to name a closer during his tenure as Orioles manager; over the past two seasons, 12 different O’s relievers have combined to save 38 games. Harvey profiles in the role if he can prove healthy, but that’s always an unknown for the hard-throwing righty. Can Scott, Fry and others repeat their strong ’20 results in larger samples? Which swingman/bulk-innings type makes the team as a reliever? All are questions that remain to be answered.

-- Joe Trezza

RAYS

The known: As with their rotation, the Rays have a ton of good options here in The Stable. Nick Anderson, Diego Castillo and Pete Fairbanks are returning as their top high-leverage arms. Chaz Roe is back to work in short bursts, ideally against right-handed hitters. Collin McHugh is on board to work multiple innings. Cody Reed should get a longer look as a left-handed reliever. There’s more middle-innings depth with 2020 contributors like Ryan Thompson and Ryan Sherriff. From the Red Sox, they picked up another lefty candidate (Jeffrey Springs) and a long man (Chris Mazza). They’ll have additional depth available with non-roster relievers like Hunter Strickland, Andrew Kittredge, Brian Moran, Stetson Allie and others. Finally, they’ll get a midseason boost with the return of Oliver Drake and the expected comeback of Brendan McKay. You know manager Kevin Cash will deploy his relievers early and often, and you know that few teams get more out of less-heralded arms than the Rays.

The unknown: There are several unknowns. For one, how will their top bullpen arms respond to the heavy workload they experienced in October? And can they stay healthy? As impressive as their depth is, it’s also critical that their best bullpen arms stay sharp for the long haul. Additionally, how much space will Tampa Bay save in the bullpen for bulk-inning pitchers? Will the Rays carry several at a time – like, say, McHugh, Josh Fleming and Trevor Richards? Or will they stash those extra arms -- potentially including prospects Luis Pati?o, Shane McClanahan and Brent Honeywell -- in the Minors until they’re needed to start games? These are good problems to have, the result of all their depth and talent, but their pitching plan for this season will likely require deft management and a lot of flexibility from the players involved.

-- Adam Berry

RED SOX

The known: The four relievers who will pitch in high-leverage spots the most are Matt Barnes, Adam Ottavino, Hirokazu Sawamura and Darwinzon Hernandez. The closer is likely to be Barnes or Ottavino, who came over in a trade from the Yankees. Barnes got a taste of closing at the end of last season and would like to win the job in his final year before free agency. Ottavino is known for his ability to carve up righties. The signing of Sawamura from Japan for two years at $2.4 million could turn out to be one of the bargains of the winter if his stuff plays up as much as the Red Sox think it can. Hernandez has an electric arm and never had a chance to be his true self last year after battling COVID-19 before the season started.

The unknown: Who is the closer? In 2019, manager Alex Cora was purposely vague during Spring Training and then decided to mix and match once the season started. That didn’t work, and Cora said he now understands it’s important for relievers to have set roles. However, he has provided no hints of which way he is leaning other than to say Sawamura, who closed for two seasons in Japan, won’t start the season in that role. How good can Hernandez be? That will depend on if he can command consistently enough. As optimistic as the Red Sox are about Sawamura, they won’t know for sure until they see how his three-pitch mix (splitter, fastball and slider) plays in games.

-- Ian Browne

YANKEES

The known: The club’s recent history of significant injury woes will spill into a new year with Zack Britton set for surgery to remove bone chips from his pitching elbow. That will increase the importance of a late-inning mix including Chad Green, Darren O’Day and Justin Wilson, who now must take on more responsibility in setting up for closer Aroldis Chapman (who, by the way, will miss Opening Day while serving a suspension from last year).

The unknown: When Britton returns, he’ll slide into the eighth inning, but that won’t happen until at least May -- and potentially later in the season. It’s unclear how manager Aaron Boone plans to patch that loss. Back-end bullpen candidates like Luis Cessa, Jonathan Loaisiga and Nick Nelson project to take on added importance early in a season when starting pitchers’ innings figure to be closely monitored.

-- Bryan Hoch