Toronto Blue Jays: In their pitching strategy against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday, the Jays attempted to put one together. It was unsuccessful. They lost 10-1 at Rogers Centre, their second straight loss to their AL East rivals.
The Blue Jays started Trevor Richards in place of Alek Manoah, who has a right UCL strain and is on the 15-day injured list. The right-handed reliever pitched two scoreless innings with four strikeouts, so that portion went according to plan. However, things broke down among the five relievers that came after.
After Richards gave up three home runs to the Orioles, including two from Ryan Mountcastle, who is still tormenting the Blue Jays, the manager of the Blue Jays, John Schneider, lauded Richards and called his performance “excellent,” but he also claimed that other relievers behind him failed to execute their pitches. Mountcastle has played in 24 games at Rogers Centre and is 29-for-91 (.319) with 26 RBI, seven doubles, eight home runs, and a 1.044 OPS.
“You have to execute your pitches and if you’re throwing s—t in the middle of the zone hoping for a good result, it’s probably not going to happen against Ryan Mountcastle or against me if I’m hitting there,” Schneider said. “We feel good about the plan going in, and it’s up to the players to go out there and execute the pitches. And if you don’t, that’s what happens.”
Ryan Mountcastle crushes his second HR of the night 443 feet. 😳 pic.twitter.com/9xKd6mIvPy
— MLB (@MLB) June 5, 2024
Now, a split in this crucial four-game series between the Blue Jays and Orioles is the best that can be expected. The question of what the Blue Jays will do to bolster their rotation in the event that Manoah loses a long amount of time is more worrying than this one loss.
Dr. Keith Meister, an orthopedic specialist, will see Manoah on Thursday in Dallas. In order to set a schedule for Manoah, the Blue Jays are awaiting the results of this second opinion. However, given that the injury is, at most, related to his UCL, Manoah may be out of the game for four to six weeks. In the worst case scenario, he will be done for the season and require Tommy John surgery.
Those are two vastly different outcomes, but the common denominator is the Blue Jays still need to fill the void left by Manoah. Their first crack at it didn’t go so well — and there aren’t many better options to turn to now.
In general, the Blue Jays lack starting pitching depth, which is their own fault since they failed to sufficiently bolster their club with additional depth pitchers throughout the winter.
Yes, the Blue Jays’ rotation last season, which was led by Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, José Berríos, and Yusei Kikuchi, was the third-best in MLB in terms of ERA. This season, all four of those starters are back, and their workload and health histories are strong. It was realistic to expect that quad to perform consistently once more. They have mostly fulfilled their promises.
However, it is also true that Manoah’s character was seriously questioned during his career-worst 2023 season, in which he was sent to the minor leagues twice. It is reasonable that the Blue Jays believed he would recover. It is the kind of trust a company should have in a domestic, past Cy Young winner. However, they still needed to create depth behind him and take into consideration the chance that Manoah would not produce to his prior level. Or factor in the possibility that one of their starters suffered an injury and had to miss time.
Rather, the sole noteworthy free-agent pitcher that the Blue Jays signed this winter was Yariel Rodríguez, who arrived with many uncertainties having only ever pitched in Japan and Cuba, primarily in relief roles. He missed the most of the 2023 campaign as well. The organization’s depth included top prospect Ricky Tiedemann, who has an electrifying arm but has been injured a lot and needs additional seasoning at Triple A, and Bowden Francis, who joined the club out of spring training as the fifth starter after Manoah was hurt.
Now, we’re into the season. Manoah is missing time, not due to his performance, but because of injury. Where is the depth behind him?
Rodríguez is hurt and continues to make rehab outings to build up his pitch count. (He is scheduled to pitch in relief on Wednesday for Triple-A Buffalo.)
Tiedemann is also hurt after only pitching eight innings in Triple A. He is scheduled to throw a live batting practice session in Florida later this week and then make a rehab start.
After being placed on the disabled list on Tuesday, Francis gave up four earned runs on five hits, including two home runs, in three and a third innings against the Orioles. Of course, he was feeling rusty after his time in Illinois, and this was his first excursion since then. Although throwing straight into the Orioles again would be a tough order, his season ERA is 9.00.
It is also not like a lack of beginning depth is a brand-new issue. When Manoah was demoted to the Florida Complex League due to his problems last season, the Blue Jays were forced to resort to Richards in a situation identical to this one. When Toronto had to inject a fifth starting due to scheduling conflicts, they utilized Richards as an opener. Hyun Jin Ryu eventually made his way back off the injured list following Tommy John surgery, which was fortunate for Toronto, and the Blue Jays utilized him as their fifth starter to close out the season.
The fact that a year later, the Blue Jays find themselves in a situation where every fifth day a plan needs to be cobbled together is not ideal and, more importantly, should have been avoided.
So what can the Blue Jays do?
Richards might be used as an opener once more, or they could try to stretch him out so that he can play more than two innings. Schneider said after the game that they will attempt utilizing Richards as an opener again in the future, but he was not trying to get ahead of himself.
Rodríguez could return and the Blue Jays could use him as a starter, albeit one whose workload they’ll need to be mindful of. He at least showed good promise in his handful of starts earlier this season.
The team could continue to try and get more out of Francis since he’s built up to about 70 pitches, he said. At least the next time that spot comes up, the Blue Jays will be facing the Oakland A’s.
Following that? Despite having a 4.57 ERA in nine starts with Buffalo, Paolo Espino is still listed on the 40-man roster. With a 3.86 ERA in 10 starts for Double-A New Hampshire, left-handed prospect Adam Macko, who is on the 40-man roster, is enjoying a good season, but he has not pitched above that level yet.
The trade deadline is still more than a month away, so that’s not a viable option yet. And by the time July 30 rolls around, the Blue Jays may be in the position of seller, not buyer, if the season continues on this trajectory.
The Blue Jays are now dealing with a number of problems, including a faltering bullpen, a troublesome offense, and a steep ascent up the standings. Now update the list by closing the gap in their rotation.
(Photo of the Blue Jays making a pitching change on Tuesday: Mark Blinch / Getty Images)
