O’Sullivan stabilizes 51s pitching rotation

With Toronto's pitching staff decimated by injuries this season, Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos has rolled the dice on a plethora of pitchers to fill the void.

Right-hander Sean O'Sullivan - acquired by Toronto for cash in a June 23 trade with Kansas City - has yet to make an appearance for the Blue Jays, but he has paid big dividends for the 51s, going 7-1 with a 2.16 ERA.

"He's confident in his ability to pitch, and he knows how to pitch," Las Vegas manager Marty Brown said. "It's a credit to our scouting department to see he was available and go out and get him because he's been a big difference to our rotation."

O'Sullivan has allowed 14 earned runs in nine starts, scattering 43 hits in 58 1/3 innings, with 28 strikeouts and 14 walks.

The 24-year-old contact pitcher has been dominant in four home starts, allowing four earned runs in 29 innings at Cashman Field, where he'll take the mound today for Las Vegas (67-52) against the Iowa Cubs (44-76).

O'Sullivan's numbers have dramatically improved from Triple-A Omaha, where he opened the season and had a 6.75 ERA as he struggled to adjust to splitting time between starting and relieving.

"The biggest key for me has been being on a normal routine," he said. "When I was with Omaha jumping in from reliever to starter, I had no routine. It was really hard to prepare because I didn't know what situation I was going to pitch in."

Acquired by the Royals in a July 2010 trade with the Angels for third baseman Alberto Callaspo, O'Sullivan struggled with Kansas City last season and was placed on waivers this year on the final day of spring training.

"I kind of just got pushed to the side, so I feel blessed and happy to be in the situation I'm in now," he said. "I was very happy to be traded. I'd been asking for a trade because I felt I was being very misused and wasn't getting the maximum out of my potential."

The Angels' third-round draft pick in 2005, the 6-foot-1-inch, 240-pound O'Sullivan won his big league debut for Los Angeles in June 2009.

A month later, he pitched the first nine-inning no-hitter in Salt Lake's franchise history - with only a seventh-inning leadoff walk to Cliff Pennington preventing him from pitching a perfect game in a 2-0 win at Sacramento.

"The opposing crowd gave me a standing ovation," he said. "That was something special."

After finding it difficult to crack the Angels' starting rotation, which was comprised mostly of pitchers with multi-year contracts, O'Sullivan was excited when he was dealt to the Royals.

But he failed to deliver for Kansas City, compiling a 6.11 ERA in 70 2/3 innings in 2010 and a 7.25 ERA in 58 1/3 innings last year, when biceps tendonitis plagued him.

"I pitched a month and a half with it just to try to gut it out, but it got to the point where I couldn't perform," he said.

O'Sullivan finished last season strong for Omaha, going 8-2 with a 4.22 ERA, but that didn't help his cause with Kansas City this spring.

"Pitching hurt for so long last year and my numbers dropping as dramatically as they did really ended up being my downfall there," he said.

On the rise again in Las Vegas, O'Sullivan, a San Diego native, has a sunny outlook on life.

"I'm still just 24. I feel like I have a long future in front of me," he said. "I may not be where I want to be right now, but in this country how many people get to say they play baseball for a living? So I count each day as a blessing."

■ NOTES - Saturday's game was suspended because of rain after four innings, with Iowa leading Las Vegas 5-2. The suspended home game, believed to be the first in 51s franchise history, will be resumed at 5:05 p.m. today. After a 25-minute intermission, the teams then will play their regularly scheduled game, which will be seven innings. There have been eight rainouts in 30 years at Cashman Field, with the last on Aug. 25, 2008. A game also was postponed because of power failure on July 3, 2011. ... Right-hander Frankie De La Cruz (1-5, 3.71 ERA) is to oppose O'Sullivan in the second game.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.