At long last, the Toronto Blue Jays will soon return to a five-man rotation.

It’s the moment everyone has been waiting for. The time has finally arrived. No longer will this team have to survive on bullpen days to round out the vacant two-thirds of their starting five. It’s back to business as usual, in the traditional sense.

Over the next few days, the Blue Jays will receive not one, but two traditional starting pitchers back from injury — first Dylan Cease on Tuesday, then Max Scherzer on Wednesday. Both hurlers will follow Patrick Corbin during this week’s three-game series versus the Philadelphia Phillies, as manager John Schneider confirmed to reporters pre-game on Monday.

That means the club’s next three games will feature these pitching matchups:

Cease completed his brief Triple-A rehab assignment last week, allowing five runs (all earned) on six hits — including two home runs — and one walk while striking out six across four innings, throwing 75 pitches (50 strikes). He hit the 15-day IL on May 25 with a left hamstring strain, but it was considered minor at the time and will only end up shelving him for the minimum required stint.

It was the first IL placement of Cease’s career, excluding a COVID-related stint during the shortened 2020 campaign.

Scherzer also made his way through Buffalo, making a pair of Triple-A rehab starts in his return from right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation, compiling 6.2 combined innings with three runs allowed along with five hits, three walks and nine strikeouts. The 41-year-old starter topped out at 73 pitches (44 strikes) in his final outing with the Bisons on Friday.

When Scherzer takes the mound in Wednesday’s series finale against the Phillies, it’ll serve as his first major league start in over a month — and almost two months since he completed at least four innings in any start (majors or minors), coming in a six-inning performance against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 18.

Cease and Scherzer’s impending returns will also create a ripple effect on Toronto’s rotation, bumping back rookie Trey Yesavage’s next start to Friday’s series opener versus the New York Yankees. The organization has decided to provide the 22-year-old starter with a few extra rest days between starts amidst the toughest stretch of his young career, having allowed 12 runs and 11 walks in his previous three outings.

The Blue Jays will need Yesavage at his best when the Aaron Judge-less Yankees visit Rogers Centre this weekend, a pivotal three-game showdown that’ll also feature Kevin Gausman and Corbin.

With Shane Bieber scheduled to make another Triple-A rehab start on Thursday, as Schneider shared, it appears this team may soon jump from five healthy starters to six — a luxury they haven’t enjoyed since spring training. Injuries have, unfortunately, moved those goalposts ever since then.

A few weeks from now, though, Bieber — who likely still needs to make at least two more Triple-A rehab starts after completing a season-high 2.2 innings in his latest outing on Saturday — is expected to become the latest Blue Jays starter to rejoin this increasingly healthier roster.

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