The Blue Jays optioned fifth starter Easton Lucas to Triple-A Buffalo before Monday’s loss in Houston. They recalled reliever Josh Walker in his place, thus leaving them with a four-man rotation.
An off day on Thursday allows them to skip the fifth starter this time. Chris Bassitt and Bowden Francis will follow Kevin Gausman, who pitched tonight, in the Houston series. José Berríos will take Friday’s series opener against the Yankees, while Gausman and Bassitt will be back on regular rest to finish the weekend in the Bronx.
Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet relays word from manager John Schneider that the Jays will return to a five-man rotation after that. An off day next Monday would have allowed them to stick with a four-man staff into the end of next week, but that’s apparently not the plan. An optioned pitcher must stay in the minors for at least 15 days unless they’re being recalled as the corresponding move for an injured list placement. Barring injury, Lucas won’t be back for at least a couple weeks.
The 28-year-old Lucas entered this season with 14 career MLB appearances. All of those had come in relief. He was pushed into the starting five with Max Scherzer battling renewed thumb discomfort that sent him to the injured list. Lucas fired 10 1/3 scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts over his first two big league starts. He was bombed in each of his next two outings, however. The Braves put up eight runs (including a trio of homers) in his third appearance. He couldn’t get out of the second inning during Sunday’s start against the Mariners, who put up six runs. The overall result is a 7.41 earned run average through 17 innings.
Scherzer doesn’t seem especially close to a return. The future Hall of Famer provided a mildly positive update on Monday, saying a second cortisone shot has allowed him to better grip the ball (via Hazel Mae). Scherzer was able to throw off flat ground during pregame warm-ups at Daikin Park, but he doesn’t appear to be nearing a rehab stint.
It leaves the Jays in a difficult spot once they go back to a five-man rotation. The decision to turn to Lucas in the first place pointed to the team’s lack of depth beyond their Opening Day starting five. Jake Bloss, acquired in last summer’s Yusei Kikuchi trade, has three major league starts to his name. He has been hit hard over his first four Triple-A starts this year, allowing a 7.31 ERA with a below-average 17.5% strikeout rate. Aside from Lucas, prospect Adam Macko — who underwent meniscus surgery in February and hasn’t pitched this year — is the only other starter on the 40-man roster. Lefty Eric Lauer, who owns a 5.68 ERA through his first four Triple-A starts, is their most experienced non-roster depth option.
I wonder if the Jays will try to swing a trade for Triston McKenzie. The Guardians just designated him for assignment. Maybe Pete Walker can fix him.
The BlueJays rotation is old and not deep and won’t last the year. It will be their undoing of another close to last or actual last place in the American League East.
Gausman’s heater is back to 96-97 MPH but looking at the game today, he is no longer an ace, He’s not even a #2. He’s a 3 when on. Age 34.3
Bassitt is a fighter and I like him and he can come up with a great game every-once-in-a-while but at 36.2 he is on his last legs. He is a #4 now.
Bowden Francis is not a savior. Teams are figuring him out. good teams will easily hit his heater that is straight and lacks movement. By the time the year is out we will see that he is a #4.
Scherzer is done or almost done. Too bad too. Let’s hope he has 5 starts left in him.
Alex Manoah expected return is August 2025 which is too late to do anything. The team will be out of it by then.
Easton Lucas is a retread and doesn’t belong in the bigs unless it is a spot start against a team that has never seen him. He’s not even ranked.
Tiedemann is a 2026 project.
Many say Macko is not a starter [Except the Jays Mgmt of course.]
As for Jake Bloss he is a good prospect. He is long and gangly and will take a a few years to establish a repeatable delivery. He will be in the majors again soon. His ceiling is a #3-#4 starter.
I like what the Jays did in their bullpen but with this starting group, the bullpen is starting to feel it already.
You missed Berrios. That’s a pretty big part of their rotation.
I like Berrios. I liked the trade for him at the time. Berrios is in my rotation no question. He has two recurring issues that he needs to work on. He can lose his delivery and look terrible for extended periods. But he works hard to find it again. His work ethic is unmatched. The other issue is he tends to be a one half pitcher – that is he is good one half of a season but not the other. Again consistency. He is still on my team. What Berrios do we have right now?
I agree, but your analysis above started with “The BlueJays rotation is old and not deep and won’t last the year,” then left out a guy who averages 190 innings a year. Just checking to make sure he is a part of your equation, because even at 2 WAR a season, it’s a steady, positive contribution.
No big qualms with what you’re saying. But context is important, and look at the rest of the league. Nobody has good SP because they’re all dropping like flies.
Jealous in Baltimore.
José Berríos not worth mentioning!?
See above regarding Berrios.
Might as well give Schultz the next start opportunity. He earned it. Might be able to go 5 innings.
Lucas must have used up all his juice in that Red Sox start. That was the only time I saw him pitch and he looked great so I was confused, but then I checked sour his next two starts.
Heard he is now serving as a Brand Ambassador for Golden Corral.
The jays could have 5 Cy Young starters having career years and it would not matter. They can’t hit.
Time to purchase Chris Flexen from the Cubs. Or Nabil Crismatt from the Phillies. Both are just depth pieces for thise organizations. Both are MLB tested ( though both have passed as well as flunked in rhe oast ), and both are starting in rhe IL right now. And Crismatt can fall back to spot starting/long reileif if needed.
Worth some cash, but not for prospects at all.
I may trust then more than Eric Lauer. But not by a lot.
Crismatt’s too valuable as depth in Philly right now.
Who in the org thought Lucas could start anyway?
Desperation told them.
Given their pitchers are going about 5.4 innings per start, going with a 4-man rotation is going to tax their bullpen quite a bit.