Starting Rotation Projection For The Blue Jays

Yariel Rodriguez

Toronto signed Rodriquez late in the offseason. The Cuban pitcher’s $32-million, five-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays contains options, escalators, and performance bonuses that allow the 26-year-old right-hander to earn up to $ 47.5 million as a starter and $ 37.5 million as a reliever. It was presumed that Rodriquez would be a reliever. Still, with Gausman’s injury and Manoah showcasing unsteadiness as a starter, Rodriquez could very well get the chance to be a starter for the Blue Jays at the beginning of the season. About a month ago, Rodriquez mentioned that his arm was about 75 percent after not pitching at all in 2023. We have yet to see the 27-year-old right-handed pitcher pitch in Spring Training, but he is set to debut on Sunday, March 17th.

Ricky Tiedemann

Number one-ranked prospect Tiedemann has pitched twice in Spring Training this season. In 2023, Ricky put up impressive numbers, including only giving up one home run, an OPP batting average of .199, and a 3.68 ERA. The 21-year-old is a lefty pitcher, and all that’s separating Tiedemann from becoming a big-league pitcher is a healthy workload, pitch sequencing, and command, especially vs. right-handed batters. He has the goods, and there’s no question about it.

He needs to put everything in place now. Ricky looked sharp early in his second outing in Spring Training and got Realmuto swinging through a slider to end the inning. The double against him was a fly ball lost in the sun. Tiedemann sat 96-97 mph (topped at 97.7). Ricky has a lethal slider versus left-handed batters, and if he got the chance to be in the starting rotation, he would most likely be the youngest pitcher to pitch in the starting rotation.

Bowden Francis

27-year-old Bowden Francis is another option the Blue Jays could turn to as a starter in the Blue Jays rotation. On March 14th, Bowden Francis allowed only four hits and one unearned run despite operating with a minor velocity dip over six innings. However, the Minnesota Twins did create quite a bit of hard contact against him. Nine of his 19 (Batted Ball Events) BBEs produced a 95 mph EV or higher, but only 3 were hits. Francis, in 21 games (37.0 IP) with the Blue Jays, recorded a 0.2 (Fangraphs’ calculation of WAR) fWAR. 

That’s A Wrap!

It will be interesting to see what the Blue Jays starting rotation will look like without Cy Young finalist Gausman on the mound. It is unfortunate as well that Manoah had a shaky start in his Spring Training debut, hitting three batters. The Blue Jays had very strong pitching in 2023, but the mistake that was made was continuing to have Manoah pitch when he was struggling. They certainly cannot take that chance and risk sliding in the standings. The Blue Jays have three robust options to turn to for their starting rotation. They could also have four or five starters in the rotation. So, it’s possible that we could see two of these three pitchers getting the chance to start in the rotation.