The Blue Jays’ Rotation Depth Is Being Tested Early

Despite coming into spring training with one of the league’s best, fullest, and most well-rounded starting rotations, the injury bug has hit the Toronto Blue Jays‘ starting staff hard already. With more starters on the injured list than they currently have in their healthy rotation, the Jays’ pitching is in an interesting place early in the regular season.

In so little time, remarks on their rotation have gone from “They have so many starting options!” to “Where are all their options?”

The pitching they’ve received thus far has been impressive for the most part, especially from ace Kevin Gausman and new acquisition Dylan Cease, who struck out 12 A’s hitters in his Blue Jays debut. However, Toronto is going to need its healthy starters to continue their hot starts with so many of the team’s top arms sitting on the IL.

In 2025, Toronto received 8.5 total fWAR (23rd in MLB) from its starting rotation throughout the season, and those starters posted a 4.51 xERA (23rd in MLB) and a 1.50 HR/9 (28th in MLB). They had some strong individual performances, but the cumulative results weren’t pretty.

This year, the Jays are looking to become one of the most intimidating teams on all fronts, and they need to stay healthy to do that.

Cody Ponce’s MLB Return Cut Short

Cody Ponce signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Blue Jays this offseason to return to MLB after three seasons overseas in Korea and Japan. After tossing 2.1 innings against the Colorado Rockies in his first start, he suffered an unfortunate ACL sprain while trying to field his position on a slowly-hit groundball.

Ponce was poised to have an excellent season after posting an ERA of just 0.66 in 13.2 spring training innings. He was also coming off an MVP-winning season in the KBO, where he went 17-1 with a 1.89 ERA and a league-record 252 strikeouts in 180.2 innings.

The right-hander earned every bit of his role in the Blue Jays’ rotation this season, and it’s unfortunate that he’s going to be out of commission for quite some time.

He’s likely to undergo surgery on his knee after being placed on Toronto’s 60-day IL on Sunday, making this a devastating loss for the Jays, who are already dealing with multiple injuries to their rotation. When healthy, Ponce could grade out as one of the best arms on Toronto’s staff, and his hard fastball and new kick-change provide plenty of swing-and-miss potential.

Ponce didn’t allow a single barrel in his brief season debut, and hopes are that he can make a return to the mound before the end of the season. However, the Jays will be careful not to rush him back to action so that their $30 million man isn’t in any discomfort when he makes his eventual return.

It’s an absolute gut-punch to lose a guy like this in the first week of the season, and the Jays will have to be strong to persevere in his absence.

Rookie of the Year on the IL?

Right-hander Trey Yesavage entered spring training in 2026 with all the potential in the world. He was fresh off a 2025 campaign where he both made his professional debut for the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays and threw seven innings of one-run ball in Game 5 of the World Series against the Dodgers (with 12 strikeouts!).

He set the Blue Jays’ single-postseason strikeout record and had some of the most impressive outings of the entire playoffs.

He started three regular season games last September and struck out 16 batters over 14.0 innings of work. He struck out 39 hitters over 29.2 more postseason innings, marking the 15th-highest single-postseason total in MLB history. His 39 Ks were also by far the most in a single postseason by a pitcher aged 22 or younger, demonstrating his unique combination of youth and prowess on the mound.

Yesavage made a rehab start for the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays on Friday as he works his way back from a shoulder impingement suffered this spring.

On a 45-pitch limit thanks to a limited early-season workload, he tossed 2.2 innings with three strikeouts, one walk, and one hit (solo home run). The Jays want to be careful with a pitcher like Yesavage, who rushed through all levels of professional baseball in 2025.

Before the season started, he was one of the favourites to win the AL Rookie of the Year, but this injury setback has put him on the outside looking in, with names like Kevin McGonigle, Chase DeLauter, and others already making their marks early in the season.

The Jays’ priority isn’t whether Yesavage will win any awards, however, but rather keeping him healthy and effective through the 2026 season and beyond. For now, he’s not healthy enough to return to the rotation, but he should be soon.

Another Shortened Season for Bieber

2020 Cy Young Award and Triple Crown winner Shane Bieber stuck with the Blue Jays on a $16 million player option shortly after the end of the 2025 postseason. He now has some elbow fatigue after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April of 2024.

Bieber was effective for the Jays in the postseason last year, posting a 3.86 ERA over 18.2 innings in five appearances.

Some may say Bieber’s 2025 was tainted due to him surrendering the World Series-winning home run to catcher Will Smith of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he was otherwise a reliable arm throughout Toronto’s playoff run and late in the regular season.

In the regular season, Bieber started seven games and threw 40.1 innings in which he allowed just seven walks and 34 hits (1.02 WHIP).

Similar to Yesavage, Bieber will be treated with care and caution due to the lengthy recovery process that he’s already undergone over the last two years. When healthy, Bieber is a very talented pitcher that the Jays would love to have back in their rotation, considering the rest of the injuries they’re dealing with. Upon his return, he’ll be a breath of fresh air for this team.

Bieber has a high ceiling and hasn’t posted an ERA above 4.00 since his rookie season in 2018, but he also hasn’t been able to throw more than 100 innings since 2023.

The key to Bieber’s success is to stay healthy and allow his consistency to be on full display. He doesn’t have an arsenal that’ll blow hitters away, but he’s crafty and stays around the strike zone, and his talents are sorely missed in Toronto’s rotation.

Berríos’ Healthy Streak Ends

José Berríos has been the epitome of a consistent starter over his career, making 30+ starts in every full season (excl. 2020) since 2018. He was acquired from the Minnesota Twins at the 2021 trade deadline in exchange for a package of prospects and went on to start three of four Opening Day games from 2022 to 2025.

He went down this spring with a stress fracture in his right elbow, which landed him on the Jays’ 15-day IL. He wasn’t a part of the team’s playoff run last season either due to right elbow inflammation, so his only postseason outing as a Blue Jay was in their 2023 Wild Card Series loss to his former team.

Coming into the 2026 season, Berríos’ future as a Blue Jay was uncertain due to their acquisitions of Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce.

It was believed that Berríos could’ve been traded over this past offseason, but given these unforeseen injuries, he has much more value this season than could’ve been predicted. His stability in the Jays’ rotation will be crucial to the team’s success.

Given Cody Ponce’s ACL sprain in his first start of the season, a permanent spot in Toronto’s rotation might’ve perfectly opened up for Berríos in an inadvertent manner. He has a golden opportunity to prove his value in a situation where a spot has seemingly opened for him once he’s MLB-ready again.

Closing Thoughts

The Blue Jays came into the spring with one of the deepest and most diverse pitching staffs in the league, but their options have started dwindling, one by one. Even though they’re still getting strong pitching from their healthy starters, there’s plenty to be desired from the plethora of arms they have sitting on the IL.

Toronto recently signed veteran left-handed starter Patrick Corbin, and he made a start for Single-A Dunedin on Saturday, throwing five innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts and only four hits allowed. All things considered, he’s a solid choice to eat up some starts for the Jays going forward, at least until the rest of these injured arms make their returns.

It seems that luck hasn’t been on Toronto’s side thus far in this manner, but hopes should still be high among the Blue Jays faithful due to their star-studded roster. Their pitching staff still boasts successful results so far, and their starters have stepped up big to keep them in the hunt early in 2026.

Even with this help, though, the Jays will need to be healthier if they want to be the intimidating force that they have the potential to become this year.