Blue Jays: Is it time to let the kids pitch?

The Toronto Blue Jays 44-53 season is circling the drain with the team showing no signs of climbing out of the American League East basement as injuries and lack luster play continue to mount.

The poor play of pitchers Marco Estrada and Francisco Liriano who are both on expiring contracts at the end of the 2017 campaign have handcuffed the Blue Jays rotation all season long especially when coupled with the laundry list of injuries the team has had to overcome.

Estrada is a shell of his former self and appears lost on the rubber having only pitched past the 5th inning in two of his last nine starts. The soft tosser has also surrendered 43 runs in those nine starts and hasn’t recorded a win since May 27th.

Liriano has regressed and consistently struggles to make quality pitches owning an inflated earned run average of 6.15 while walking 40 in 71.2 innings good for a 5.0 BB per 9 IP clip.

If the Jays are unable to convince any suitors to take the hurlers off their hands by the trade deadline then the question begs to be asked. Is it time for the kids to pitch?

The Jays could benefit from showcasing some fresh blood from the farm who have earned the opportunity for an early audition? The likes of Chris Rowley, Ryan Borucki and Sean Reid-Foley of late are all names that could do no worse than half of the current rotation.

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Rowley has been impressive at both stops in New Hampshire and Buffalo this season. The 26-year old has started 8 of his 23 appearances but sports a combined 2.12 earned run average while fanning 75 in 80.2 innings of work.

Borucki is already on the 40-man roster so the hurler could be added without much legwork if called upon. The 23-year old hasn’t pitched above Advanced Single-A but has looked impressive in his 18 starts this season. Borucki has a respectable 3.58 earned run average with 109 whiffs in 98 innings with Dunedin.  The hurler was just promoted to Double-A New Hampshire and is set to make his Fisher Cats debut today.

Reid-Foley began the season on the Baseball America Top 100 Prospect list but slipped out of the rankings after struggling to start the 2017 campaign. The promising hurler has been much better of late posting a 3.77 earned run average in his last 10 appearances. In his last appearance, Reid-Foley fanned 12 Trenton hitters while only surrendering one run over 6.2 innings.

Other hurlers who have some promise cutting their teeth on the farm are Angel Perdomo, Conner Greene, T.J. Zeuch and Jon Harris to name a few.

Next: Blue Jays transactions and injury updates aplenty

Let’s use the second half to gauge what is up and coming on the farm rather than witnessing the same disappointing performances from two hurlers who won’t be with the squad come 2018.