Clayton Richard to most likely start Saturday against White Sox

One of the exciting transactions for the 2019 Blue Jays rotation will be making his debut this Saturday in Chicago against the White Sox.

The 35-year-old lefty will now be with his fourth major league club, after spending most of his time with the Padres, then making appearances for the White Sox and Cubs.

He pitched 158.2 innings for the Padres last year, making 27 starts and having a 5.33 ERA, 1.380 WHIP and a 6.1 K/9 rate.

Richard was acquired via trade this winter, coming to Toronto with cash for 26-year-old outfielder prospect Connor Panas, who currently has a 1.365 OPS in Triple-A through an extremely small sample size of 19 plate appearances. He has also hit three home runs in that timespan, somehow.

The newest member of the rotation was slotted to start right away for the Jays, but because of unfortunate circumstances, he started the season on the IL and is just getting ready to start his 2019 now.

With the way every starter is pitching but Stroman, and contact hitter Trent Thornton to an extent, the Jays could use any healthy arm capable of eating a few innings every fifth game.

The Clay Buchholz trial has failed, Matt Shoemaker is out for the year, you never know what Aaron Sanchez you’re going to get, Ryan Borucki isn’t close enough to being healthy to even think about — this will be a Toronto rotation to easily forget.

It was all so positive through the first couple of weeks, now it’s a barren wasteland with one diamond that they might just get rid of in July in the name of asset management.

What an environment for Clayton Richard to be a part of.