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A lack of depth has the Blue Jays rotation dancing on thin ice entering 2025
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Photo credit: © John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Trevor Fitzpatrick
Feb 20, 2025, 14:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 20, 2025, 13:33 EST
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It’s safe to say that the Toronto Blue Jays rotation is solid but on thin ice.
The 2025 and 2026 seasons may be the team’s final years to make a playoff push with their current starters barring any injuries and/or future contract extensions. Of the starters’ contracts, Chris Bassitt and newly signed Max Scherzer’s will be the first to expire come 2026. Scherzer was signed to a one-year deal as he enters his age-40 season, so his signing appears to have been a rental case to bolster the crew this season.
Bassitt on the other hand is on the tail-end of a three-year deal and has been a key piece to the Jays rotation throughout. His final year on contract may be his most important yet as the team wants to compete for a playoff spot this season. The only way they’ll be able to do so is if their starters (especially their older ones) can stay healthy and effective.
Simply put, the team’s pitching depth can’t support multiple rotation injuries. Scherzer pitched in only nine games last year, making him a question mark already.  Bassitt, on the other hand, has been a workhorse for the Jays, pitching over 30 games for them in 2023 and 2024. Even so, it’s hard not to at least raise the longevity question as he enters his age-36 season.
As for Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, and Bowden Francis, the level of concern is lower as they’re younger. They’ve all dealt with minor injuries, but nothing that would raise major alarm bells. That aforementioned lack of depth will only hit the Jays hard if more than one of their starters goes on the IL at a time. Pitching injuries are on the rise though. No matter how sturdy your pitchers may seem, the baseball season is a gruelling one.
Here’s a look at the team’s depth that would have to fill in should the worst happen to any of Bassitt, Scherzer, Gausman, Berrios, or Francis.

Yariel Rodríguez

With Rodríguez’s track record last season, his role entering 2025 appears to be leaning towards the bullpen or a sixth starter position. He started 21 games last year, pitching to a 4.47 ERA across 86.2 innings. That last part is the most important – he usually only pitched four to five innings per start.
That was intentional on the Jays’ part, as Rodríguez battled with back issues throughout his first big league season, notably thoracic spine inflammation at one point. There’s not too much to cover here. If he can stay healthy himself, Rodríguez should make a solid reliever and/or spot starter as needed. Where things get dicey is if you look even one spot down the depth chart.

Alek Manoah

Manoah pitched in just five games in 2024 before going on the IL to undergo Tommy John surgery. He likely won’t be back until halfway through the 2025 season at the earliest. That means that the Jays can’t expect Manoah to come back at any given point, since there’s no exact date for his return.
There’s no telling exactly how well the large right-hander will fare when he returns either. Tommy John surgeries make for tough recoveries and Manoah had been inconsistent even before the surgery. In 2023, he posted a 5.87 ERA over the span of 19 games, but the year before that, he was an all-star as he made 31 spectacular starts to the tune of a 2.24 ERA.
Which Manoah the Jays will see when he does return is up in the air, making him a questionable piece, at least for this season. He should see more pitching time come 2026 should his first appearances this season go well.

Jake Bloss

Acquired in the trade that sent Yusei Kikuchi to the Houston Astros, Bloss instantly became one the top pitchers in the Jays minor league system. After pitching four years of college ball from 2020 to 2023, Bloss entered the Astros system and was unfortunately rushed through the levels. He pitched to a 2.89 ERA in only 18.2 innings of rookie ball and A ball in 2023, before playing in A+, AA, and AAA in 2024.
It’s not that he pitched poorly, in fact far from it. The problem is that he pitched only 44.2 innings in AA ball and that was the level in which he had the most innings pitched across the aforementioned minor league levels. Following this rush job, he made three starts for Houston, posting a 6.94 ERA. After he was dealt to Toronto, he made eight starts in AAA Buffalo with a 6.91 ERA.
All of this isn’t his fault though, Bloss hasn’t been given the chance to settle in at any level of ball that he’s played at. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like a luxury the Jays will be able to give him in 2025 either. The team’s aforementioned lack of starting depth and their major league starters walking on thin ice means that Bloss may be forced to fill in. 
Injuries to other top prospects Ricky Tiedeman, Adam Macko, and Angel Bastardo certainly don’t help either. Another top prospect, Trey Yesavage, was just drafted last year, but will need time to develop, meaning even if he is rushed through like Bloss was, he’s still unlikely to see the majors in 2025.

Bullpen Games

Last year, Ryan Yarbrough made a number of long relief appearances for the team following an opener. Even though the Jays didn’t re-sign Yarbrough, they may need to employ a similar strategy to get through games as the season drags on.
Pitchers like Ryan Burr, Zach Pop, Nick Sandlin, and Tommy Nance may be asked to eat innings alongside Rodriguez as a long man out of the pen. It’s certainly not a favourable option, but the team may have no other options should the list above fall through.
Expect to see numerous arms get looked at this spring training as the club desperately tries to find solid depth in case something happens to their solid rotation.
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