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

For the 2023 season, the Toronto Blue Jays for the most part have been fortunate enough to avoid the injury bug to many of their key players. Players like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Kevin Kiermaier, and George Springer had to miss only a couple days with minor ailments in general.

Relievers Adam Cimber and Zach Pop went on the IL back in late April and early May respectively, but were subsequently replaced with adequate arms from the minors (including Nate Pearson) to help cover for their absence.

For position players, Santiago Espinal went on the IL for a strained hamstring and Danny Jansen for a strained groin in late May, and both had players already with the club that took over right away seamlessly (Whit Merrifield/Cavan Biggio for Espinal, and Alejandro Kirk for Jansen).

However, do the Jays have any set plan in place if one of their starters were to go down with an injury? Who would be first to step in to fill the void? Those questions could be answered by taking a look at their pitching depth at Triple-A Buffalo to see how they have been performing.

The Blue Jays do not have enough starting pitching depth in the event of an injury.

On the 40-man roster

For those currently on the Jays’ 40-man roster that could fill a starting role right away, this includes Zach Thompson and Thomas Hatch.

As a former starting pitcher for the Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates, Thompson has been having a miserable season so far with the Buffalo Bisons as in 11 starts, he is 2-4 with a 6.89 ERA and 1.55 WHIP, surrendering 11 home runs and 36 earned runs in just 47 innings pitched. He is definitely not a reliable option right now for the Jays under any circumstances.

Hatch has had multiple stints with the big league club for the past few years, both in a starting and relief role. He posted a decent season back in 2020 mainly as a reliever, but struggled mightily in his stints as a starter the following two seasons. This year with the Bisons, Hatch is 3-2 with a 4.08 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP, giving up 13 earned runs, 12 walks and 35 strikeouts over 28.2 innings, mainly in a relief role. He was recalled by the Jays for a couple games in May, but was quickly sent back down to make room for Cimber coming off the injured list. From the looks of it, the Jays are not too fond of, nor confident in using Hatch in any important role for now.