TORONTO — A balk, or not a balk – that is the issue now dogging B.J. Ryan as he continues his comeback from serious elbow surgery a year ago.
A notoriously fast worker from the mound during his 10-year major-league career, getting called for making a balk has been an unusual occurrence for the 32-year-old Toronto Blue Jays closer.
He made one back in 2000, his second season in the majors, while he was a member of the Baltimore Orioles, playing in a game against the Kansas City Royals.
Ryan somehow managed to go another eight years or so before he committed his second balk last Thursday in Boston during the Jays' 3-0 triumph against the Red Sox.
And now, Ryan suddenly finds himself a cause célèbre on the matter, with the Chicago White Sox chirping away during Monday's contest that the umpire was not holding the left-hander to the same standards as other pitchers when it comes to balks.
“They've been screaming at me my whole career,” Ryan said yesterday in his defence. “I stop, it's just not very long.”
According to the rule book, following the stretch, pitchers must come to a complete stop before delivering the ball.
It is a matter of debate if Ryan comes to a complete stop or not. Let's put it this way: If he took the same approach coming to a stop sign while driving a car, he'd have a slew of tickets.
Even Ryan will admit he may need to take more care with his delivery if he wants to avoid further controversy.
“You know what, I should do a better job of slowing it down out there,” he said. “But you get out there and you haven't been out there for a while and you don't even think about it. You kind of do what you've been doing your whole career.
“It's tough to change something that you've had success doing. So it's just something to work on in the back of your mind.”
It is interesting to note that fellow Blue Jays pitcher A.J. Burnett went into last night's game against the Tampa Bay Rays tied for first place in the American League this season for balks, with two.
Last year, Steve Trachsel of the Orioles led the AL over the course of the season with three balks.
In Ryan's defence, umpires normally won't bother to call a balk on a pitcher unless they feel the pitcher is gaining an unfair advantage by his delivery. With Ryan, each delivery is the same – and he rarely even bothers throwing over to the base when a runner is on.
“I think it's much ado about nothing,” Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi said. “The guy's been in the league all these years and has had the same delivery. I think any time there's a balk it should be something that's not consistent with the delivery.”
Ricciardi said it would be absurd for Ryan to start tinkering with his delivery at this stage of his career.
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said there might be some gamesmanship involved with opposing teams believing they might be able to goad more balk calls against Ryan after the incident in Boston.
“They might bring it to their attention,” Gibbons mused. “Whether it works or not I don't know. Apparently the umps figured it hasn't been that big of a deal.”
