TORONTO — It’s time to have a serious talk about the back end of this Blue Jays rotation.

Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease, the two anchors of the staff, are doing their part — and then some — to keep this club afloat until others return from injury. Even Patrick Corbin, whose Blue Jays tenure is only three starts old, appears to have found his footing quickly following a rocky debut at the beginning of April, allowing just two earned runs over 10.2 combined innings in his last two starts.

The other two-fifths of the Blue Jays’ rotation, however, just haven’t done their jobs well enough.

Whether it’s been as a traditional starter or pitching behind an opener, Eric Lauer has struggled mightily this month and features a 7.79 ERA and 7.65 FIP in four appearances (three starts), issuing more walks (11) than strikeouts (10) across 17.1 innings. He’s also allowed five home runs in that span, all of which have come over his previous three outings.

Granted, the 30-year-old grinded through a nasty flu virus earlier this month, which severely compromised him against the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins. But after limping through his most recent start versus the Los Angeles Angels, while wearing performance tape down the back of his neck to correct posture issues — that he didn’t inform the coaching staff about beforehand — there are more questions than answers about his rotation spot, both in the short and long term.

Then there’s Max Scherzer, who, despite bouncing back with a six-inning performance in Arizona last weekend, couldn’t make it through at least three innings for the third time in four starts in Friday’s 8-6 loss to the Cleveland Guardians.

It’s been quite a stretch of extremes for the future Hall-of-Fame pitcher. He’s now made five starts this season, and has logged a quality start in two of them — while being pulled before the end of the third in the other three.

And you could argue that his most recent outing was his worst yet.

Early on, it was a slugfest against Scherzer. The Guardians’ lineup tagged him for five runs on four hits, including two home runs and one near-miss that hit off the top of the right-centre wall, all before the Blue Jays’ defence could record the third out of the first inning. Only the damage didn’t stop there.

Another pair of runs followed in the third, coming off the bat of Angel Martínez, who homered twice off Scherzer in as many at-bats. The second of which signalled the end of the 41-year-old hurler’s night, exiting after having surrendered seven runs on six hits and three walks with zero strikeouts — he’s now punched out just one batter in his last two starts — on 82 pitches (51 strikes).

Of the 39 swings taken against Scherzer on Friday, only two resulted in swinging strikes. That earned him a measly five per cent whiff rate, now the third-lowest out of 488 career games pitched.

Both Schneider and Scherzer dismissed the notion of any lingering effects of his prior right forearm tendonitis having any impact on Friday’s lack of success — and swing and miss, too. But the veteran starter added he still has to monitor its condition moving forward, leaving the possibility — however small — of it flaring up again down the road.

Making matters worse for Toronto is that Lauer and Scherzer are currently slotted back-to-back in the rotation, and it’s taking quite the toll on the bullpen because of it. Normally, you’d probably consider bumping one of your best starters — likely Gausman in this case, as his turn follows Scherzer’s — in between them to provide a much-needed buffer.

The Blue Jays are entering a 13-day stretch before their next off-day (May 7), however, meaning they’re probably stuck with their rotation order for the time being. Their most recent day off from an early-season three-city road trip provided everyone down in that ‘pen the chance to reset. But that ended up being short-lived, with the relief corps covering 6.2 innings following Scherzer’s most recent abbreviated outing.

So where does the team go from here?

Reinforcements will soon arrive in the form of Trey Yesavage and José Berríos, both of whom could return in the next week or so — potentially sooner depending on where the former makes his next start. The Blue Jays’ brass is already thinking about how to make those pieces fit with the current group, which may push one or multiple starters to the ‘pen, as general manager Ross Atkins shared during his pre-game media availability Friday afternoon.

Logistically, eventually shifting Lauer back to a multi-inning reliever makes sense, given the remarkable job he did in that role last season — albeit despite his strong preference to remain in the rotation. That may solve one problem. But what about Mad Max? Moving him to a relief role wouldn’t make much sense, given his age and tendency to surrender home runs — he’s allowed six in his last four starts, matching the number of strikeouts he’s recorded.

The Blue Jays could consider carrying six starters once Yesavage and Berríos return. But even if that were to provide a solution, and that’s a pretty big if, it’d only be a temporary fix since they’d be running one arm short in the ‘pen.

There aren’t any simple answers here, only complicated questions.

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