The Toronto Blue Jays are off to a slow start. Entering Tuesday’s action game against the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, the reigning American League champions were 4-6 and sat 3 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the powerful AL East.
Toronto added some big pieces such as Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce to its rotation. Max Scherzer was even brought back for one more year, but things haven’t exactly been clicking.
In fact, Jon Morosi of MLB Network pointed out a troubling trend for the rotation, one that has affected almost all of their starters, minus Kevin Gausman.
“(The Blue Jays’) starting pitchers have combined for 40-1/3 IP, the 2nd lowest total of any MLB team. (Cody Ponce’s injury and early exit influence that number.)” Morosi posted Tuesday on X. “Kevin Gausman, (Tuesday’s) starter, is the notable exception with 6 IP/GS.”
Gausman has posted a 0.75 ERA in his first two starts and is averaging 15.8 strikeouts per nine innings. However, the rest of the Blue Jays’ rotation is clearly struggling.
This is a concerning trend for the reigning AL champions, and if not corrected, it could put them in a deeper hole behind the Yankees in the AL East. The division is tough, and if the Blue Jays can’t figure out their pitching situation, they could potentially be buried in the race before long.
It is still early in the season, but the Blue Jays do have a strong rotation on paper that is simply underachieving thus far. But if they can change their fortunes, they should be just fine as the season progresses and they try to make another push for a World Series title.
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