Cecil on home boos: 'Don't cheer me when I'm pitching good'

Brett Cecil doesn't want the support of fair-weather fans.

The lefty reliever has been jeered by Toronto Blue Jays supporters in some of his recent outings, pushing him to respond to his critics.

"One thing I will say," Cecil told Postmedia Network's Steve Buffery on Thursday. "If you're going to boo me, don't cheer me when I'm pitching good."

Cecil's struggles this season are no secret, which has led to the harsh criticism from his own fans. Through 15 appearances this season, the left-hander owns a 5.59 ERA and is tied with Minnesota Twins starter Phil Hughes for the most losses in the majors with five.

It's a startling contrast to the 29-year-old's 2015 campaign, when, on June 24, he began a 37-game streak without surrendering a single earned run. Cecil posted a career-best 2.48 ERA for the Blue Jays last season, making the booing this year harder to stomach.

"I guess that's why it's so surprising, given what I've done in the past. And this is the only team I've been with, so it's a little surprising," he said, according to Buffery. "But like I said earlier, it gets bothersome, but it doesn't affect me on the mound."

"It's not like I'm whining about it. It's just surprising to me and it just bothers me in the sense that, you know, what I have done in the past and yet we've just finished the first month of baseball," he added. "So yeah, it makes me angry. But like I said, I'm not going to let if affect me on the mound. It can anger me before, it can anger me after, but it's not going to affect what I'm doing on the mound."