Two new Blue Jays made their Toronto debuts in the weekend series against the Chicago White Sox.  Not only do Bryan Bullington and Brian Burres have the same first name (though spelled differently) and the same initials, their surnames have the same first two letters, they're also pitchers and they're both 28 years old.   Their arrivals give Toronto three pitchers named Brian, joining Brian Tallet.  No truth to the rumour he'll change his name from Tallet to Bullet.  Now that would be cool.  Brian Bullet!  Kinda like this guy.

This is just more of the hard-hitting analysis you've come to expect here and we're proud to pass on the savings to you in these challenging economic times.

Bullington had the misfortune of being the number one pick in the 2002 amateur draft, selected ahead of the likes of B.J. Upton, Prince Fielder, Scott Kazmir, and Cole Hamels.  The Pirates selected Bullington because he was considered to be an easy sign.  It was believed then-scouting director Ed Creech wanted Upton but he was overruled by then-GM David Littlefield and then-owner Kevin McClatchy.   Still, Bullington wasn't exactly chopped liver coming out of college as the righthander from Ball State went 11-3 in his draft season with an impressive 139-18 K/BB total in 104 innings.  The 6-foot-5, 220 pounder came to the Bucs as a four-pitch pitcher whose fastball was clocked in the low-to-mid 90's to go along with a mid 80's slider, curve, and changeup.  Baseball America said he had the best breaking ball among college pitchers in the draft.

Despite mysteriously losing the velocity on his fastball and bite on his slider once he entered pro ball, Bullington won 34 games in his first three seasons in the minors as he rose to AAA in 2005.  He made his major league debut that same year with the Pirates by making one relief appearance. 

The South Korean born righthander wound up missing the entire 2006 season with shoulder surgery.  He went 11-9 with a 4.00 ERA in 2007 with AAA Indianapolis but was 0-3 with a 5.29 mark with the Pirates in five appearances.  In 2008, he won just four of ten decisions in Indy with an ERA of just five-and-a-half and he was designated for assignment.  From the Indy Indians, he went to the Cleveland Indians after some time at AAA Buffalo.  He was 0-2 with an ERA of nearly 5.00 in 14 2/3 innings with the Tribe but had a K/BB mark of 12-2.   His best outing came in late September against Boston when he struck out six in five innings or relief.

However, that wasn't enough for Cleveland to keep him around and he was claimed on waivers by Toronto last October.  Bullington started this season in Las Vegas where he was 1-1 with a 1.86 ERA in four apperances, with a nice K/BB mark of 10-1 in 9 2/3 innings.  He made his Jays debut Friday and also appeared Saturday against the White Sox.  His WHIP after two innings was 3.00 (four hits and two walks) but his ERA is remarkably still zero thanks to five strikeouts.  He worked a third inning in relief during Monday's night loss to Kansas City and only issued one walk.  His fastball has topped out at 90 MPH and has also used a low 80's slider and a high 70's curve.  Wearing number 36 in your game day program, Bullington is hoping to pick up his first major league victory with Toronto.

Joining Bullington on the big club is lefty Brian Burres, who made the start and took the loss in Saturday's 10-2 setback to the White Sox.   A 31st round pick of the San Francisco Giants out of junior college in the 2000 amateur draft, the 6-1, 180 pound Burres got as far as AA Norwich in his fifth season with the Giants. 

The Oregon native joined the Baltimore organization in 2006 where he played with the AAA Ottawa Lynx and went 10-6 with a 3.76 ERA.  He was called up to the O's, where he recorded a 2.25 ERA in 11 appearances out of the pen.  Burres stuck around in Baltimore for 2007 and made three starts against the Jays where he went 1-1, including seven shutout innings at Rogers Centre in September.  The Jays did give him some payback 11 days later.  He finished up that season at 6-8 and followed that up with a 7-10 mark in 2008.  His career ERA to this point is a tick under 6.00.  He was off to a rough start in Las Vegas before his call-up as he was 0-2 with a 6.97 ERA along with a 7-2 K/BB mark in 11 innings.

A four pitch pitcher whose changeup serves as his best pitch, Burres is not a pitcher who throws gas as his fastball tops out in the mid-80's and maybe high 80's on a good day.   Number 14 for the Jays is expected to make his second start on Thursday against the Royals.