All things considered, the season has started on a decent note for the Blue Jays. They’ve wasted a few opportunities to pick up wins due to a lack of offence, but all in all, the pitching staff has been among MLB’s best over their first 23 games. That said, you can never have too much pitching, and the Blue Jays could certainly use some reinforcements, especially in the rotation.

With that in mind, I have to admit that a headline caught my eye on Monday when the Cleveland Guardians decided to designate Triston McKenzie for assignment.

The 27-year-old had a breakout campaign in 2022 when he went 11-11 with a 2.96 ERA and a 0.951 WHIP over 30 starts and 31 appearances overall. He struck out 190 batters that year over 191.1 innings pitched and earned a very solid 3.9 bWAR as a 24-year-old. Unfortunately, it’s been a different story for the Brooklyn native ever since.

There’s a reason that the Guardians decided to cut him loose, even if it wasn’t that long ago that he was among the more exciting young arms in the game. McKenzie ended up missing most of the 2023 season due to a UCL injury, and for better or worse, he managed to avoid surgery with it at the time, making four starts in 2023. He was back in the rotation last season, but things didn’t improve much unfortunately, finishing the year with a 5.11 ERA over 16 starts that covered 75.2 innings, and eventually losing his spot in Cleveland’s rotation. He spent a good chunk of last season languishing in AAA, and he wasn’t able to turn things around.

This season, the Guardians ended up placing him in their bullpen to start the year, which was a necessity because he’s out of minor league options. While it was encouraging to see his fastball tick up a bit as a reliever, McKenzie still struggled with his command, and the numbers weren’t pretty. He had allowed seven runs over 5.2 innings thus far, posting an 11.12 ERA in a very short sample size, but enough that the Guardians felt it was time to move on, given he was out of those options.

So would this be the type of pitcher the Blue Jays should bring into the fold?

At first glance, the answer is a pretty obvious no, but for me, it would depend on the circumstances. Given his youth and track record of somewhat recent success, I would be very surprised if there aren’t a few teams willing to see if they can turn his fortunes around with a fresh start. Toronto could theoretically be a decent place for that, as Pete Walker has been known to help right the ship for a few veteran pitchers who were struggling before joining the Blue Jays, such as Robbie Ray and Yusei Kikuchi.

It’s not a project that can be completed overnight by any means, and that might be the key to whether the Blue Jays take a look here or not.

In a perfect world, McKenzie could join the organization and spend some time in Buffalo. At the very least, he would need time to build his stamina back up if he was going to be used as a starter, and he’s been struggling with his command thus far this season as well. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s possible that the Guardians and McKenzie’s camp would have dealt with his UCL injury differently based on how things have gone over the last couple of years, but he’s young enough at 27 years old that it’s not too late to turn things around.

The question the Blue Jays will likely ask themselves, and the same goes for 28 other teams around the game, is whether McKenzie is worth the roughly $1.6 million he has left on his contract for this year. That’s a very small sum for a potential reinforcement for the rotation, but the Blue Jays are also well into the luxury tax thresholds, so it would cost them a bit more at the end of the season – not make or break money by any means, but every addition brings them closer to that next line. McKenzie’s contract would also come with the potential to control his contract through arbitration for two more years, which would come in handy if he manages to turn things around and find something even remotely resembling his 2022 form.

In no way would I suggest that McKenzie could be an immediate solution for the Blue Jays, but I do think there’s a path where it could make some sense. The Guardians aren’t going to be looking for much in return for him at this point from a trade perspective, and Ross Atkins and company have a long history of trade discussions with Cleveland, including the swap that brought Andres Gimenez to Toronto over the winter.

The Blue Jays could use some rotation depth to navigate the 139 games remaining in the regular season schedule, and while it’s a gamble, there’s a possibility McKenzie could be a roll of the dice with some eventual higher upside as well. That depth has already been tested early with Max Scherzer on the IL dealing with thumb issues, and his spot was filled by an unlikely candidate in Easton Lucas. The young southpaw performed admirably in his first two outings, but he’s been beaten up pretty badly over his last two starts, giving up 14 runs over just 6 2/3 innings and is now back down in Buffalo. They’ll eventually have options like Jake Bloss and maybe Alek Manoah late in the season, but the Blue Jays are pretty thin as far as MLB-ready starters go.

It would be far from guaranteed to pay off, and it would require some patience, but considering that McKenzie is still just 27 years old, the need for pitching depth, and the likelihood of a very low cost from a familiar trade partner, I wouldn’t rule it out as a possibility.

With measured expectations, I think it’s a risk I’d be more than fine with the Blue Jays taking as well. There’s no doubt that McKenzie could use a fresh start somewhere, and hopefully, he can rediscover the form that made “Dr. Sticks” one of the more exciting young arms in the American League back in 2022.