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Blue Jays: Patrick Corbin has unexpectedly brought stability to the rotation
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Photo credit: © Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
Ben Wrixon
May 4, 2026, 07:00 EDTUpdated: May 4, 2026, 04:25 EDT
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Flash back to roughly two-and-a-half months ago: the Toronto Blue Jays are breaking camp with more starting pitchers than rotation spots, and conversations are swirling around who will wind up as the odd man out. 
At that time, the idea that Patrick Corbin would be pitching—let alone pitching well—for Toronto in 2026 would not have even computed. Something would have had to have gone horribly wrong, and he would have needed a time machine back to 2019. Yet, against all odds, here we are. 
Corbin picked up the win in Friday night’s 7-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins, tossing 5 ⅓ innings of two-run ball before being relieved by Braydon Fisher. It was the third time in his last four outings that he’s completed at least five frames—impressive considering he didn’t get a proper spring training. 
Perhaps Corbin’s recent success shouldn’t come as such a surprise, given the solid, albeit unremarkable, campaign he authored in 2025 with the Texas Rangers. He recorded a 4.40 ERA across 30 starts in what was his best season in years. 
Still, this is Patrick Corbin, the man who has been hit harder than every pitcher in baseball since 2020. It’s worth wondering if what he’s shown as a Blue Jay is sustainable, or if some blow-up outings are lurking around the corner. 
The left-hander’s underlying stats aren’t pretty, to say the least. His 5.90 expected ERA implies negative regression, especially when paired with a .289 expected batting average. He’s giving up a lot of contact that could eventually turn into runs. 
Corbin has nonetheless done well to keep himself out of trouble. He’s walked just 7.6% of the batters he’s faced thus far, which ranks in the 67th percentile. His strikeout rate, while still unimpressive, is up from last year. He’s also getting slightly more ground balls. None of these improvements is astronomical, but they all add up when taken together. 
The Blue Jays have also been strategic in their deployment of Corbin, often pulling him before he gets a third trip through the batting order. This has unquestionably helped his numbers and is a testament to the effectiveness of the bullpen. It’s better to pull him early than hang him out to dry, even if it means using an extra reliever that night. 
A sub-4.00 ERA probably isn’t sustainable for Corbin at this stage of his career, but he’s proving last season’s minor bounceback wasn’t a fluke, either. He’s picking up where he left off as a competent back-of-the-rotation guy rather than a total liability. The Blue Jays will happily take that until José Berríos and Shane Bieber return from the IL. 
So, while completely unexpected, Corbin has proven himself to be a valuable member of the Blue Jays’ pitching staff—it’s hard to imagine where they would be without him. 

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