The Blue Jays are not at all prepared to handle an injury to their starting rotation

Not on the 40-man roster

For those not on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster but have maintained a starting gig at Buffalo, Drew Hutchison was just released recently, and another one is veteran pitcher Casey Lawrence. Unfortunately, Lawrence also has been struggling so far for the Bisons this year. At this point in his career, he should be considered a last resort before the Jays should consider calling him up. Beyond that, the Jays would need to dive into uncharted territory with prospects Yosver Zulueta and Bowden Francis.

Zulueta is currently being flipped between a starting and relief role at Buffalo to enable him to gain experience and develop a feel for both roles to see what would suit him best as he pursues an MLB career. In doing so, he has struggled to find his command at times so far this season, pitching to a 4.61 ERA, 1.76 WHIP, with 24 walks and 33 strikeouts in just 27.1 innings of work.  So it would be best if he continued to work on his mechanics in the minors at this moment.

That leaves us with Francis, often the forgotten one that was a part of the Rowdy Tellez trade with the Milwaukee Brewers for Trevor Richards. Among all the pitchers mentioned, Francis has posted the most solid numbers of the group to date, as he is 0-2 with a 3.45 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, giving up only six earned runs, 17 hits, four walks and 23 strikeouts in 15.2 innings pitched. However, the sample size has been small, as he had only made four starts this season after coming back from injury and is slowly working his way back up to speed.

So basically, in summary, there currently isn’t any pitching depth in the Blue Jays organization right now that could step right in and effectively fill in the rotation if needed. The Jays definitely put all their eggs in one basket at the start of the season, hoping that their dominant starting five would stay healthy and lead them to success this year without providing any depth insurance. As much as Alek Manoah is currently struggling to find his game at the MLB level, he's still likely the better option compared to anything currently in the minors.