The starting rotation takes another blow as Matt Shoemaker hits the Injured List with shoulder inflammation

Well, this isn’t what you want to see.

The Blue Jays’ bullpen has already been taxed incredibly hard due to the rotation’s inability to consistently go deep into games, and now the staff has been dealt another blow as Matt Shoemaker has been placed on the 10-day Injured List.

Shoemaker just put together a solid start in Tampa on Friday night, going five innings while scattering just a couple of runs in what ended up being an extra-innings win for the Blue Jays. Charlie Montoyo curiously pulled Shoemaker after he had thrown just 74 pitches, so that call miiiiight have had something to do with this.

With Shoemaker joining Nate Pearson on the IL, the Jays are now left with a pretty barren rotation. Behind Ryu, there’s Tanner Roark, Chase Anderson, and Trent Thornton, all of whom have yet to go further than five innings in a game this year. Also, speaking of Pearson, we haven’t yet been given an update on the severity of his injury, which, uh, might not be good.

Jacob Waguespack has been added to the active roster in place of Shoemaker, giving Montoyo an option to provide some length if needed. I imagine that we’ll see a combination of Thomas Hatch and Anthony Kay used in a piggyback situation with Shoemaker out. That obviously isn’t ideal because it leaves Montoyo without a couple of key bullpen weapons.

Beyond that, this further illustrates Toronto’s need for starting pitching ahead of the trade deadline, which is just over a week away…