5 players the Blue Jays will wish they had acquired this offseason

SP Luis Severino

The Jays aren’t currently desperate for starting pitching help. But with the uncertainty of whether Yusei Kikuchi can reproduce his solid numbers from last season, along with whether Alek Manoah can bounce back from his disastrous 2023, it wouldn’t be a bad idea if the team invested in some pitching depth to add to their back end of the rotation for 2024.

One premium starting pitcher candidate that fits the bill in which they missed the boat on was former New York Yankees’ ace Luis Severino. The 29-year-old free agent was signed by the New York Mets to a modest one-year deal worth $13M back in early December. It was not too long ago when Severino was one of the top starters in all of baseball. Not only was he a strikeout machine, averaging double-digit strikeouts per nine innings, but he also finished as an AL Cy Young finalist back in 2017.

However, some ill-timed injuries in recent years have derailed Severino’s once-promising career, including Tommy John surgery, multiple lat strains and a groin strain over a four-year period since 2019. He did show glimpses of reverting to his dominant form in his 2022 season when he pitched to a 7-3 record with a 3.18 ERA with 112 strikeouts in just 102 innings of work. But he essentially followed it up with his worst season of his career last year in which he struggled to a 4-8 record with a 6.65 ERA and 1.65 WHIP.

There is no doubt that Severino is certainly equipped with the skills and talent to excel as a starting pitcher at the major league level. As long as he can finally put his injury troubles behind him, he could provide surprising ace-level quality pitching from the back end of the rotation. And at just a one-year deal, it was a length the Jays should have gambled on to provide the necessary insurance to their rotation for 2024.