Yes, I know. A whole lot of you will disagree with this, but there is absolutely no way that Drew Hutchison is Major League ready. Sure, he's close, but I would say he's a September call up at best, and a mid-2013 call up at worst. So why is he not ready? Well, for starters, he's just a baby! Before being called up on April 21st, he had only pitched in 6 games above High-A ball. Granted, he's was lights out in Double-A, but he has yet to transfer that to the Big Leagues, which is why he probably needs some more time in the minors. Yes, he's won 2 Major League games, but he didn't really pitch great in either of those wins. I'd even say he looked better in the games he lossed or didn't get a decision in.
He has yet to go more than 6 innings in a game, due in part to him struggling the second time through the opposing team's batting order. Drew's not walking a lot of batters, but he's not getting too many strikeouts either. That's kind of good, as it keeps your pitch count down, but it also can come back to hurt you when you always need to rely on the defense.
If I were in charge of the Jays, I'd send him down to Double-A New Hampshire, and possibly call him up again in September when he can get some experience against other team's September call ups. In the mean time, I'd put Joel Carreno back into the rotation, and call up Jesse Chavez (5-1 W/L, 2.63 ERA, 47 Ks, 11 BBs, .171 BAA in 48 IP for Triple-A Las Vegas) to pitch out of the bullpen. Unfortunately (or fortunately, since I have no experience in making decisions like this), I'm not in charge of the team, so we will just need to trust that the front office knows what they're doing.
Notes:
- Drew Hutchison's stats so far this season: 2-1 W/L, 5 G, 21 K, 10 BB, 1.52 WHIP, .286 BAA, 5.53 ERA
- According to the Game Score statistic, Hutch's best start so far was on May 12 against the Twins (6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 4 K, 62 Game Score) and his worst start was his Major League debut on April 21 against the Royals (5.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 33 Game Score)
- Other options for the Blue Jays' bullpen: Bobby Korecky, Ryota Igarashi, Evan Crawford and Chad Beck
