The Toronto Blue Jays’ injury-depleted rotation is slated to receive a massive boost in the form of Dylan Cease next week.

There’s a strong possibility that Cease — who threw 75 pitches (50 strikes) over four innings for Triple-A Buffalo on Thursday — will only require one rehab start before returning from the injured list, manager John Schneider revealed pre-game on Friday. He rejoined the team in Toronto ahead of the series opener versus the Baltimore Orioles.

Schneider added that Cease came out of Thursday’s rehab outing “feeling good,” and the current plan is to wait another 24-48 hours before officially determining his next steps. If everything checks out, the right-hander will be due to return during next week’s series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The 30-year-old starter landed on the 15-day IL with a left hamstring strain on May 25. Thus, he’ll be first eligible to return on Tuesday — the middle game of the club’s three-game series versus the Phillies.

Following Cease in that series could be Max Scherzer, who’s pitching for Buffalo on Friday — and will be followed by Shane Bieber on Saturday. The future Hall-of-Fame pitcher, who’ll be targeting 60-65 pitches or more in his second Triple-A rehab start, could also be cleared to return after this start with the Bisons.

Slowly but surely, the reinforcements are starting to trickle through for Toronto, which may only have to finish this current turn through the rotation before getting back up to five healthy starters again. Saturday’s starter remains TBD, but Schneider confirmed that Spencer Miles will once again factor into that spot, either as the bulk hurler or starter.

Additional help is also on the way soon, as Alejandro Kirk — starting at catcher in his second Single-A rehab game on Friday after serving as the DH on Wednesday — continues to progress towards rejoining the Blue Jays. He still has a few boxes to check, but the franchise’s All-Star catcher is likely just another week or two away.

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