Patrick Corbin playing the "Eric Lauer" role for the 2026 Blue Jays

The image of the starting rotation is not what the Toronto Blue Jays envisioned as April comes to a close. With the news of Max Scherzer being placed on the 15-day IL, that makes it five starting pitchers the Blue Jays have had to send to the Injured List.

What looked to be a preseason strength has turned into a glaring concern that Toronto needs to address sooner rather than later. Although Trey Yesavage has returned to the mound, the team still awaits the likes of José Berrios and Shane Bieber to return, and nobody knows what to expect out of Scherzer when he's good to go.

Thankfully, and by what feels like a miracle, a recently signed starting pitcher has stepped up for the rotation, despite some of the negativity surrounding his acquisition. It wasn't a stretch that anybody anticipated, but it's one that fans will gladly welcome.

Patrick Corbin puts up solid numbers in his small number of appearances

The signing of Corbin was met with scrutiny, and with good reason. Corbin's 2025 with the Texas Rangers wasn't what he expected, posting a 7-11 record with a 4.40 ERA. Before that, between 2021 and 2024, he had a cumulative ERA of 5.71 and, in those first three years, led the league in pitching losses.

Corbin's best year in the Majors came in 2018 with the Washington Nationals, where he posted an 11-7 record with a 3.15 ERA and made his second and most recent All-Star Game. While his value has diminished over the years, the Blue Jays needed another starter in the rotation after losing Bieber, Berrios, and Yesavage to the injured list at the time of his signing.

However, in four appearances, Corbin has surprised the fanbase and put up decent numbers, giving the Blue Jays a fighting chance in their injury-ridden April. Despite no record of an official win or loss, Corbin has a 3.72 ERA in 19.1 innings and 16 strikeouts. His WHIP is at 1.24, the best it's been since 2019, despite the small sample size.

Although he hasn't gone longer than 5.2 innings in each of his starts, his ability to keep the earned runs down gone a long way. Three of his four starts has resulted in wins for the Blue Jays where the bats were able to come alive.

Corbin's current run is reminiscent of Eric Lauer's 2025 run. The Blue Jays had similar issues with the starting rotation last April. Lauer would end up making 15 starts for the Blue Jays, posting a 6-2 record with a 3.77 ERA. Lauer carried over his starting momentum into the bullpen, where he had an ERA of 1.76 in 30.1 innings.

It's a little bit ironic that one of the reasons as to why Corbin's emergence has been so welcoming is that Lauer himself hasn't looked like the 2025 Lauer that stepped up last year. Whether Corbin remains in the rotation when everybody's healthy remains to be seen, and wouldn't be a complete shock to see him in pitching another capacity. But if he can find ways to give the offense a chance to win games, they'll keep throwing him out there and can feel good about it.

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