Blue Jays: How the 2019 rotation stacks up heading to Dunedin

With it being less than two weeks until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, how are the Blue Jays stacking up in their rotation right now?

The Blue Jays had one of the most unsteady rotations in the league last year, being just one of three teams in the American League without a 30-start pitcher. 13 different players threw out the first pitch for the Blue Jays last season including Tyler Clippard, John Axford and Luis Santos who were utilized as an “opener”.

This trend will likely continue this season as the rotation tries to recover from an injury-filled 2018. It’s doesn’t just include players trying to bounce back from injuries, it also includes a 35-year-old on an expiring contract who could be moved by the end of July.

There are also some young arms in the organization that may be ready to join the rotation at some point throughout the season, and the Jays new bench boss is coming from Tampa, the pioneers of the opener, so fans will likely see it used more than three times this season.

That being said, the fate of the rotation will hinge on Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez and how they can bounce back, as both enter the season healthy and are two years away from hitting the open market.

The Blue Jays rotation entering the season looks as follows, in no particular order:

Marcus Stroman
Aaron Sanchez
Clayton Richard
Matt Shoemaker
Ryan Borucki

I looked deeper into how these five pitchers fared last season. They combined to average less than 100 innings pitched (494.2 total), an ERA of 5.17 and a WHIP of 1.419. 35-year-old Richard pitched the most innings of them all at 158.2 and rookie at the time, Borucki, looked to be most steady.

Here’s what you need to know about each of these pitchers with Spring Training just around the corner.