John Schneider: The Blue Jays no longer view Mitch White as a starting pitcher

According to multiple reports, including one from SI's Ethan Diamandas, John Schneider has shared that the Toronto Blue Jays organization no longer views Mitch White as a starting pitcher. Instead, the currently-rehabbing hurler will be transitioned to a bulk/long-relief role.

This announcement may not come as a complete shock to many, but it is rather surprising to see the Blue Jays effectively remove someone from the starting pitcher discussion with the current state of the team's depth. With the recent demotion of Alek Manoah, Bowden Francis had his contract selected and Zach Thompson was designated for assignment, further thinning out the depth in the minors.

White, 28, has yet to pitch an inning in the big leagues this season, as he has been recovering from multiple arm ailments including elbow and shoulder injuries. Currently on the 60-day injured list, there's no guarantee that he will even be added back to the 40-man roster since he has yet to really contribute as a member of the Blue Jays organization. Instead, and this is purely speculation, a DFA may be in his future as well.

Acquired from the Dodgers at last year's trade deadline, White made it into 10 games (starting eight of them) for the Blue Jays, but things did not go according to plan. In 43 innings of work, he allowed 37 earned runs, good for a 7.74 ERA and 49 ERA+. To make matters worse, both prospects he was acquired for, Moises Brito and Nick Frasso, have started their Dodgers careers off on solid notes. Frasso in particular has been dominant this season, posting a 1.69 ERA across nine outings and 32 innings with 45 strikeouts already.

For White, he has made a total of eight rehab appearances split between Single-A Dunedin and Triple-A Buffalo this season. In 21.2 innings of work, things have ... not been good. The right-hander currently sports a 9.14 ERA thanks to a whopping 22 earned runs thanks to four home runs and 14 walks surrendered. He looks like a shell of the pitcher he was last year, and that is really saying something. Depth or no depth, White continues to stray further and further away from being any sort of factor in the big leagues, regardless of his role, this year for the Blue Jays.