Chase Lee's roster spot with the Toronto Blue Jays looks shaky again after another difficult outing, this time in a loss to Boston.
Lee allowed four hits and four earned runs while recording just one out, a brutal line that continues a pattern of struggles in his limited big league opportunities.
Even before this latest outing, Lee was carrying an 8.10 ERA across his previous appearances this season, and a performance like tonight's only reinforces the same concerns that have followed him throughout his time on the active roster.
This has become a recurring theme for Lee, who's been up and down between Toronto and Triple-A multiple times already this season, never quite finding consistent footing at the big league level.
Toronto sits at 53-60, last in the American League East, and while the standings themselves don't create urgency for every single roster decision, a bullpen already stretched by injuries elsewhere needs reliable innings wherever it can find them.
An outing this rough, particularly one that failed to get out of the first out recorded, tends to be the kind of performance that forces a front office's hand regardless of how patient they'd hoped to be.
Why this latest struggle likely means another trip down
Toronto has consistently cycled arms through this roster spot all season, optioning struggling relievers the moment their results clearly outweigh the value of keeping them up for more seasoning.
Lee's track record so far suggests he simply hasn't found the same success at the major league level that's shown up in his minor league numbers, a gap that's become harder to ignore with each rough outing.
It's a bit like an employee who keeps performing great in practice runs but struggles every time the real presentation actually happens, the disconnect eventually forcing a real conversation about readiness.
Does another trip to Triple-A actually help Lee figure out what's going wrong at the highest level, or does he need a different kind of adjustment that repeated demotions alone won't necessarily fix?
Toronto will likely need to make a decision on his roster spot soon, continuing a pattern of bullpen churn that's defined this pitching staff all season.
Should the Blue Jays option Chase Lee back to Triple-A after this latest rough outing?
Also read on Blue Jays Insider :
Beloved former Blue Jays announces retirement before the end of the season
