Blue Jays Probable Pitching Matchups Against Phillies Hint at Fresh Arms
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If one piece of the roster is taking a bigger hit than the other for the Toronto Blue Jays, it's their pitching staff, specifically the starting rotation, that has been just barely limping along this season as injuries have dismantled it before Opening Day.
But since the first pitch of their season was thrown, they have definitely not been spared, as Jose Berrios underwent a full Tommy John, Max Scherzer has had a lengthy stint, and Dylan Cease became the latest victim.
A lagging starting rotation has thrown the bullpen usage into an unsustainable pace, so any arm that they can get back will immediately help both sides of the staff, and it looks like that time is coming, not because of who is listed as a probable starter against the Philadelphia Phillies, but who isn't, per Toronto's probables page.
Right now, the only listed matchup is Patrick Corbin, who will take on Cristopher Sanchez. After that, there is nobody named for Toronto, and after both Cease's and Scherzer's latest rehab outings, it could easily be one of them, or both per Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith.
What This Would Immediately Do For the Jays
The most obvious positive part of this comes to the starting rotation, yes, but it also takes a monumental load off the relievers who have been called on far too often for bullpen games. They need starters who can get further into a game, and both of them do that.
The team now has five relievers who have pitched in 30+ games: Louis Varland, Mason Fluharty, Braydon Fisher, Jeff Hoffman, and Tyler Rogers. These are all high-leverage guys that they have to have down the stretch and cannot get burnt out before the All-Star break even comes around.
But this also gives somewhat of a cushion to the offense, which has shown signs of brilliance, but is still lagging from time to time. It becomes a little less urgent for all of the bats to figure it out if the pitching staff is firing on all cylinders.
It is no longer if, but when the Jays will have a healthy starting rotation. Yes, they will still be without Berrios and Cody Ponce, who are down for the year, but Shane Bieber is also on the horizon, and things are finally looking up for the Blue Jays.
They have a brutal stretch coming up between the Phillies and the New York Yankees to conclude their homestand. So it is an all-hands-on-deck situation, and any arm is a helpful arm at this point.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.