"Blow Jay Ryan" nickname lifted (at least temporarily)

After B.J. Ryan blew a save against Detroit in the 2nd game of the season, followed by an outing in which he nearly coughed up a 3 run against Cleveland, I affectionately dubbed him "Blow Jay Ryan" Was it deserved? Perhaps not. I did, however, still post my belief that the ball club needed to continue rolling him out for the 9th inning in close games. After three consecutive solid outings, 2 of which resulted in saves, I have dissolved the Blow Jay Ryan moniker, at least for now.

The main reason B.J. has been effective is because he is getting ahead in counts. In the first two poor outings, he was facing too many 3-1 counts which left him in danger of serving up a meatball. He solidified his first save of the season against Minnesota on April 13th, then continued his strong play in back to back games against Oakland this weekend. He worked a scoreless 10th frame on Saturday, and preserved the series win against Oakland for his 2nd save in as many chances.

For now, he is back to being B.J. Ryan. Let's hope it stays that way.