Bullpen issues major concern for Toronto Blue Jays heading into postseason

The Blue Jays are heavily favored to hold on to their lead in the AL East thanks to a strong rotation led by newly acquired ace Shane Bieber plus Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer.

Their offense is deep and strong, led by star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., shortstop Bo Bichette and the resurgent George Springer.

They've also gotten significant production from catcher Alejandro Kirk, third baseman Ernie Clement and infielder/outfielder Addison Barger.

The Blue Jays let Jordan Romano walk into free agency for a big pay day and signed Jeff Hoffman to replace him.

Genesis Cabrera, Jose Urena, Chad Green and others have come and gone and from what I can tell who we have now is our playoff bullpen.

This relief core the Blue Jays have now has looked elite on some nights, but have shown signs of inconsistency of late.

Even though the bullpen looks pretty solid on paper with Jeff Hoffman converting 28 of 35 save opportunities, along with trade deadline pickup Seranthony Dominguez and the consistent Brendon Little.

However, a couple of their relievers recently have sprung a leak with Louis Varland posting a 9.00 ERA over his last seven appearances (compared to a 2.75 mark overall) and Yariel Rodriguez logging a 6.00 ERA over his last seven outings (3.38 ERA overall).

There are not a lot of concerns for the Blue Jays right now, but if you had to pinpoint one, until they figure it out, it's the bullpen depth going into the playoffs.

If the Blue Jays can solve the issue between now and the beginning of October, they will go into the postseason as one of the toughest teams to beat.