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

The other options

Sam Gaviglio threw the second most innings last year for the Jays, and almost 200 at the big league level over the past two seasons, but he has been rocked around during that time. Gaviglio’s fastball doesn’t even average 90 MPH but he has more experience in the majors than the rest of these options.

Last season was Sean Reid-Foley’s first at the AAA level and also had a stint with the big club. In his 33 innings with the Jays he had an ERA of 5.13 and struggled with his control at times, walking 21 to go along with his 42 batters fanned. Regardless, Reid-Foley showed the ability to miss bats and got experience at the highest level. He was ranked the # 3 pitching prospect in the organization by MLB Pipeline last year.

Thomas Pannone may not have been as highly regarded by MLB Pipeline but cracked the Jays top 30 prospects. He threw 43 innings, including six starts for the Jays last year and showed good command walking just 15 batters, culminating in a 4.19 ERA. His FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) of 5.11 shows even that ERA may have involved some luck. Like Reid-Foley, it was Pannone’s first experience in both AAA and the majors. Both could use a little more grooming with the Bisons before another call.

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Trent Thornton has built up his pitch count in the minors over the past three seasons, including 124 in AAA last year, as well as appearing in the Arizona Fall League. Picked up by the Blue Jays in November in exchange for Aledmys Diaz, the 25-year-old lefty is just about ready to bring his deceptive delivery to the majors.

Lastly, the opener will be something to watch throughout the season. The ever creative Rays used it in almost half of their games last year before other teams in the league used it as well, including Toronto. With Charlie Montoyo coming over from Tampa, this is something we will likely see as it worked for his club last season.

Like it or not, the AL average ERA in the first inning was 4.71 in 2018 while the Rays had the lowest in the AL at 3.44.

There’s a lot of question marks in this rotation as the candidates are looking to bounce back, and it should allow all of these pitchers the chance to step in and showcase their talents once again.