What the Blue Jays Can Expect From Their Newest Starting Pitcher
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With the Toronto Blue Jays' starting rotation holding on by a thread thanks to a rash of injuries, the club is now set to turn to a new face in hopes of stabilizing the unit while they await the returns of the likes of Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber, José Berríos and others.
And so, the big question heading into the Blue Jays' series-opening showdown with the Minnesota Twins at Rogers Centre: what can Toronto expect from Patrick Corbin?
What Patrick Corbin Brings to the Blue Jays
Corbin was signed by Toronto to a one-year deal on April 3 with no fewer than six prospective starters (Yesavage, Bieber, Berríos, Cody Ponce, Bowden Francis and Ricky Tiedemann) on the injury list. Even amidst a wave of injury misfortune, the Blue Jays were lucky to have a 13-year veteran, two-time All-Star and former World Series champion (2019 Washington Nationals) available in their time of need.
That's not to say, however, that Corbin represents some kind of rotation savior. It's been a long eight years since the 36-year-old last earned an All-Star invite. Since then, he has largely been known as a durable innings-eater who tends to get hit - a lot.
On the positive side of things for the Blue Jays, Corbin has made at least 30 starts in every full major league season dating back to 2017. He has also pitched at least 150 innings in each of those seasons, with the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign serving as the lone exception.
Though he is getting older and still may need time to ramp up (then again, he might not even after just one minor league tune-up), Corbin should still be able to offer manager John Schneider some valuable innings every five days.
Less positively, Corbin doesn't exactly have a strong recent track record for missing bats. His 4.40 ERA last season was actually his best mark since 2019. In that time, he has led the league in losses (three times), earned runs (three times), hits allowed (three times) and home runs surrendered (once), turning his six-year, $140 million contract into an all-time albatross. He also hasn't pitched for a team with a winning record since that title-winning 2019 season with the Nationals.
It's reasonable to hold out hope that Corbin can be a solid stopgap solution until some of the injured Blue Jays pitchers make their return, while also helping balance out the handedness of the club's starting staff. However, he simply hasn't given much recent reason to expect more than that, and Toronto's bats will need to offer more support than they've shown of late.
No, this is not a situation that the Blue Jays wished to find themselves in, especially so early in the 2026 season. But with Corbin at least offering an experienced veteran arm and some durability, and with the team's offense offering hints of a rebound in Wednesday's 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, there's room for optimism that Toronto's new addition can be an asset in helping the club out of an early, injury-fueled rut.
Ben Fisher is a long-time sportswriter and baseball lover, dating back to 2008, when he was a member of the media relations team for the Toronto Blue Jays. He has covered a wide range of sports for a seemingly endless array of publications, including The Canadian Press, Fansided and The Hockey Writers. When he isn't writing about sports, he can be found coaching his equally baseball-obsessed sons' Little League teams.