Just four games into the 2026 regular season, the injuries are beginning to pile up for the Toronto Blue Jays.<\/p>\n
Already without three starting pitchers to open the year, the rotation took another hit on Monday night after right-hander Cody Ponce was carted off of the field in the third inning against the Colorado Rockies.<\/p>\n
Ponce, who was making his first big league appearance since 2021 following stints in Japan and Korea, was initially diagnosed with right knee discomfort but later underwent an MRI to determine the exact severity of the injury.<\/p>\n
A trip to the IL appears likely, where he would join Shane Bieber (elbow inflammation), Trey Yesavage (shoulder impingement), and Jose Berrios (elbow stress fracture) on the sidelines. Bowden Francis has already been ruled out for the rest of the season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and No. 5 prospect Rickey Tiedemann remains out week-to-week with elbow soreness.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of uncertainty there,\u201d said ESPN\u2019s Buster Olney of Toronto\u2019s injury-riddled rotation on TSN1050\u2019s First Up Tuesday morning. \u201cWhen you have Shane Bieber coming back after having a setback after Tommy John surgery, there\u2019s a lot of unknown there. With Yesavage, any time an organization hears about shoulder impingement or shoulder soreness, that raises some flags.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had, I thought going into spring training, great starting pitching depth and that\u2019s being tested right now, at a time where the [New York] Yankees are coming out of the gate flying.\u201d <\/p>\n
To compound matters on the mound for the Blue Jays, the bullpen has had to cover 15 innings in the first four games of the season, making Tuesday\u2019s game an important one for scheduled starter Max Scherzer.<\/p>\n
Scherzer, now back for year 19 of his Major League career, posted a career-worst 5.19 earned-run average across just 85 innings for the Blue Jays last season while dealing with a nagging thumb injury, but later shined in his three starts during the Postseason on Toronto\u2019s run to the World Series.<\/p>\n
The future Hall of Famer inked a one-year deal to rejoin the Blue Jays during spring training, and has now been thrust into an important role in Toronto while the rest of the staff continues to work their way back towards a big-league mound. <\/p>\n
\u201cMax Scherzer, I think when they signed him, the thought was, \u2018Okay, that\u2019s great that we get another veteran starter, a guy who we loved last year. His velocity is in good shape. Yes, he has a lot of injury history in recent years, but we have him on it.\u2019 <\/p>\n
\u201cBut now they need him. That is a different place than where I think we thought they were going to be when they initially signed him.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the injury to Ponce certainly complicates things for the reigning American League champions, the start of the season has still been largely positive.<\/p>\n
Toronto opened the year with a three-game sweep of the Athletics, with Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, and Eric Lauer all impressing in their first starts of the season.<\/p>\n
As well, the early returns on Japanese import Kazuma Okamoto have been impressive to begin his Major League career.<\/p>\n
Okamoto has recorded base hits in all four games to start the year, also showing off his power with homers in back-to-back games. <\/p>\n
\u201cMan, he looks great,\u201d Olney said of Okamoto. It\u2019s interesting because you never know when players are making that jump, especially position players coming from Japan to Major League Baseball. A lot of times it hasn\u2019t worked out. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I heard during the winter time from other teams was, with Okamoto, there\u2019s some question that he was, at best, average defensively, some good bat-to-ball skills. He\u2019s more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Okamoto, 29, has already looked more than capable of handling the role of an everyday third baseman at the Major League level after winning two Mitsui Gold Gloves with the Yomiuri Giants of the NPB.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s slightly a tick above average defensively, he made some nice plays in the first games of the season. You love his at-bats. Clearly, the Blue Jays see the same thing because they have the confidence to put him in the middle of that lineup behind Vladdy [Guerrero Jr.] because he\u2019s going to get pitched around a lot this year. <\/p>\n
\u201cI thought the first look at him, yeah, he is at the very least a solid Major League player, and probably better than that. The Blue Jays group of position players, I think that, generally speaking, they are better than they were last year. I love the depth, I love how they fit together.\u201d<\/p>\n
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