The Blue Jays’ starting rotation could hurt them in October

The Toronto Blue Jays finally officially clinched a playoff spot yesterday afternoon (Sunday), and the Toronto outfit will now be looking to win the American League's Eastern Section title.

It's been a great year for the Canadiens, but there's still a lot of work to be done.

And it won't be easy. The Blue Jays haven't won a game at the fall dance since 2016, and things are likely to get complicated again in October, not least because of the starting rotation.

Indeed, according to ESPN's Kiley McDaniel, the Jays have one of the worst starting pitching corps of any team currently in the playoff picture.

It's a bit surprising to see the Blue Jays' starting rotation so low on this list, but the reasoning behind it is that they're missing an ace pitcher in 2025, and the frequency with which a team is likely to use its pitchers one and two in a series has a lot of impact.

When you look at some of the other lineups expected to participate in October baseball in the American League, there are names like Tarik Skubal, Max Fried, Garrett Crochet, Bryan Woo and Hunter Brown surfacing, to name but a few, that are far superior to Kevin Gausman, Max Sherzer and Trey Yesavage (for now in the case of the latter).

At the trade deadline, Toronto attempted to remedy this shortcoming by adding former AHL Cy Young Trophy winner Shane Bieber to their ranks, even though he was recovering from Tommy John-type surgery.

In six starts, Bieber posted a 3.57 earned-run average and just under one strikeout per inning pitched. The right-hander's numbers are solid, but they're not at the level of an ace pitcher.

With Jose Berrios and Eric Lauer in the bullpen in addition to Chris Bassitt in the infirmary, the Jays' starting rotation will be tested more often than not in the coming days.

And it's not as if the relief bullpen inspires much more confidence.

This content was created with the help of AI.