What Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins is Telling Us - Without Saying It
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After coming agonizingly close to winning the 2025 World Series, the Toronto Blue Jays entered a vital offseason filled with both risk and opportunity as they balanced their newfound status as a title contender and desirable free agency destination with the impending contract status of star shortstop Bo Bichette.
So it came as something of a surprise when the Blue Jays front office, led by GM Ross Atkins, made starting pitching a central priority. Despite already having Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Trey Yesavage and a freshly opted-in Shane Bieber in the fold, team brass acted quickly to add Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce in free agency.
Toronto wasn't done there, either. The club would later win their arbitration case with Eric Lauer and even ultimately facilitate a reunion with 2025 playoff fan favorite Max Scherzer.
Here, Atkins was truly testing the limits of the old adage of "you can never have enough pitching" - and with good reason. For as talented as the Blue Jays' starters are, some of the injury and availability concerns that drove the need for enhanced pitching depth are now being validated.
Atkins' Moves Came With a Need for Depth in Mind
We haven't even reached Opening Day yet, and Toronto is already being forced to dig deep into its considerable starting pitching ranks.
The first blow came when it was announced that Bowden Francis, a depth option unlikely to factor into the big club's rotation, but a nice bit of insurance nonetheless, would undergo UCL reconstruction surgery and miss the 2026 season.
As part of the same media availability, manager John Schneider also announced that Bieber's ramp-up would be delayed on account of right forearm inflammation. We now know he will start the season on the injured list.
In the past week, the rotation has endured two more tough breaks.
Berríos received a surprising stress fracture diagnosis in his arm despite being symptom-free, which prevented him from representing Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic and will now require an IL stint.
Yesavage, meanwhile, was already being brought along slowly this season and will now join Bieber and Berríos on the sidelines with right shoulder impingement.
Heck, even prospect Ricky Tiedemann has been plagued by elbow soreness this spring.
The Toronto pitching talent that is injured or otherwise limited (Bieber, Berríos, Yesavage, Francis and Tiedemann) would form the foundation of a pretty decent rotation in their own right. And yet, even without having those four arms at full strength to start the season, they can still roll out Gausman, Cease, Scherzer, Ponce and Lauer as a solid starting five in their own right.
This is precisely what Atkins had in mind with his offseason plan. While he and the front office hoped for the best when it came to the health of their pitching staff, they had to plan for the worst. And, quite frankly, injuries on the Blue Jays' pitching front aren't entirely unforeseen.
Bieber has still only pitched in 12 games (regular season and postseason) since returning from Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for the majority of the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Yesavage was always going to be closely monitored ahead of his hotly anticipated rookie campaign. Tiedemann, meanwhile, was also coming off Tommy John surgery.
Furthermore, the vast majority of Toronto's rotation is comprised of veteran pitchers now into their 30's (and 40's, in the case of Scherzer) who have logged a substantial number of innings across their career. Depth was going to be necessary at some point this season, even if it wasn't to start the year.
If and when the likes of Bieber and Berríos return to health and Yesavage can potentially assume a larger workload, the club's depth offers the luxury of making life easier for the entire staff.
The Blue Jays shouldn't need to rush Yesavage along due to a lack of viable options. Similarly, they may be in a position to offer the likes of Gausman and Cease the odd rest amidst a taxing season.
After all, this is a team focused on being ready and at their best in October, not necessarily in April.
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.