Jake Bloss’ injury has put the Blue Jays in a no-win situation

While we're only a little more than a month into the 2025 MLB season, the Blue Jays' pitching depth has already been tested in a way none of us saw coming.

Max Scherzer's on the 60-day injured list with a thumb injury (okay, maybe we saw that one coming), and relievers Erik Swanson and Ryan Burr have joined him with significant arm injuries.

And that already thin depth was dealt a huge blow this week when pitching prospect Jake Bloss underwent imaging this week for an injury in his throwing arm. While the team is still trying to determine the severity of the injury, it seems like Bloss will be out for an extended period of time.

And that's the worst thing that could happen to the Blue Jays' pitching staff.

Jake Bloss’ injury has put the Blue Jays in a no-win situation

The Blue Jays' current rotation consists of José Berríos, Kevin Gausman, Bowden Francis, Chris Bassitt and, as of this week, José Ureña. The team signed Ureña to a MLB contract after he was designated for assignment from the Mets.

If not for his injury, that spot in the rotation would likely be occupied by Bloss, who was acquired from the Houston Astros at last year's trade deadline in exchange for Yusei Kikuchi.

Bloss has a 6.91 ERA in 27 1/3 innings for Triple-A Buffalo last year after being acquired at the deadline. He had a 6.46 ERA in 23 2/3 innings with Buffalo this year before suffering his injury.

Bloss allowed eight earned runs in eight innings in the spring, and starred for the Blue Jays in the Spring Breakout game.

He seemed to be on the upswing, however, as The Athletic's Mitch Bannon reported that Bloss made some tweaks to his delivery this year and seemed poised for a breakout. But now he's on the shelf for the foreseeable future.

As mentioned above, the injury couldn't have come at a worse time for the Blue Jays. They've been down a No. 5 starter all year because of Scherzer's injury, and have had to use guys like Easton Lucas, Ureña and Eric Lauer in that spot.

Neither of them are part of the team's long-term plans, whereas the team acquired Bloss at the deadline in the hopes that this could be the year they finally see what they have with him in the MLB level.

Bloss also had the chance to serve as a bridge starter until the team got to its next round of minor league starters. Trey Yesavage has dazzled in his first year of minor league action and Khal Stephen is starting to generate some buzz as a quality pitching prospect, but they're both a couple years away from being at a place where they can make an impact in MLB.

Gausman, Berríos and Bassitt could all be gone in the next two years, so the Blue Jays will need to figure out how they're going to replenish their rotation.

It seemed like Bloss was going to be the first prospect to get a chance to prove that he deserves a spot. It looks like this injury could ruin that chance.