32-year old righty reliever Jason Frasor really stepped up last season for the Blue Jays. He pitched in 61 games (0 starts) in 2009 for the Jays and he was 7-3 with 11 saves, a 2.50 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. Despite a lot of phone calls over the winter the Blue Jays continued to resist trading Frasor. But he hasn’t rewarded the Jays for holding onto him yet this year. Frasor has played in 26 games (0 starts) for the Blue Jays this year and he is 2-1 with 3 saves, a 5.09 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. He has whiffed 27 batters in only 23 innings this season showing that the stuff is still there but he has also walked 14 batters which is way too many. With the Blue Jays suddenly contending this season it’s imperative that Frasor starts to pitch like he did last season.

The Blue Jays have designated 26-year old lefty starting pitcher Dana Eveland for assignment. Eveland has started 9 games for the Blue Jays this year and he is 3-4 with a 6.45 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP. He has allowed 57 hits and he has walked 27 batters in only 44 2/3 innings so he deserved what he got. Eveland has already said that he will accept a minor league assignment from the Jays if he clears waivers.

You would think batting practice was over an hour before the game unless you saw a game that Josh Towers pitched. In that case the batting practice continues after the game has started. Towers is 4-5 this season with a 5.07 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP so far. It’s amazing that he has won 4 games when you consider that he has allowed 81 hits and 11 homers in only 71 innings this season. Towers has only walked 11 batters and that helps him survive despite getting hit hard….and often.

Tomo Ohka has been pitching batting practice so far for the Jays. In 8 starts, he is 2-4 with a 5.52 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP so far this season. In 45.2 innings, he has allowed 50 hits, 10 homers and he’s walked 19 batters while only whiffing 16. If Ohka keeps pitching like this he will wind up in the Jays bullpen.

Jason Frasor got the first chance to replace B.J. Ryan as the closer and he blew it. Frasor is 1-1 with 2 saves, a 5.65 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP so far this season. In 15 games, Frasor has thrown 14.1 innings and he has allowed 11 hits, walked 9 batters and whiffed 13. Frasor seemed to be putting to much pressure on himself as it appeared that he was trying to whiff everyone and that led to all of the walks. He could get another chance to close at some point in the season if he gets back to pitching like he can.