Blue Jays 6-man rotation made simple

If Jays choose extra rest for starters down the stretch

One of the Blue Jays stated goals over the final 26 days of the 2024 schedule is to make sure the established starting pitchers, currently forming the rotation, receive an extra day of rest, whenever possible, and to ensure that the organization is, within the internal developmental guidelines, able to safely evaluate the younger, less experienced starters that may still be on a pitch-count or an innings limit.

One solution to that arms-race balancing act is to go to a modified six-man rotation down the stretch, using the remaining off days as a buffer, while also adding an extra arm down the stretch to make sure all the evaluation goals are attained.

There is already a reasonable baseball solution out there, that would require adding just one starting arm to the current five-man group, resulting in the final 23 games with at least one extra day of rest for each assignment. The existing five, in an order that begins with the Phillies series on Sept. 3, includes: Chris Bassitt, Bowden Francis, Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios and Yariel Rodriguez. The sixth man would not be required until Sept. 11 and could be either Ryan Yarbrough as the bulk man, or newly acquired Jake Bloss, currently a Bison, for three well-spaced assignments.

This GriffsThePitch space is not here to tell you, necessarily, what is going to happen, because the Jays often do unpredictable stuff, but more often will suggest what should happen in the best interests of players, fans and the Blue Jays organization.

Here are the Blue Jays starters and what could easily be their remaining schedule, never pitching on just four days of rest.

CHRIS BASSITT (4)

Date    OPP.    Rest

9/03    v Phi    5 days

9/09    v NYM 5 days

9/17    @TX    7 days

9/23    v Bos   5 days

The quirky 35-year-old righthander with the twitchy Joe Cocker mound presence would be working with an extra day in three of his remaining four starts and a generous seven days leading into the start deep in the heart of Texas. Has had legitimate career success vs. all four opponents: Red Sox (2-1, 2.21 ERA); Phils (4-0, 1.86); Mets (1-0, 0.00); Rangers (5-3, 3.72). In the course of his career, on five days of rest, is 35-15, 3.44 ERA in 74 starts. Why not take advantage? 

BOWDEN FRANCIS (4)

Date    OPP.    Rest

9/04    v Phi    5 days

9/10    v NYM 5 days

9/18    @TX    7 days

9/24    v Bos   5 days

Francis is the Blue Jays’ flavour of the month and a potential breakout star heading into the off-season. Make sure he is taken care of, but not babied and handled with kid gloves … because at 28-years-old, he is no longer a kid. Currently on an unprecedented run, nobody expects his heater to continue for the next four starts, but averaging seven innings per remaining outing would bring him to 126 frames, including his time in AAA-Buffalo. Extreme caution is the Jays’ modus operandi so this all makes sense.     

KEVIN GAUSMAN (4)

Date    OPP.    Rest

9/06    @Atl    5 days

9/13    @StL    6 days

9/19    @ TX   5 days

9/23    v Bos   5 days

The acknowledged ace of this group, given the track record over the four full seasons since the shortened 2020 campaign, the 33-year-old Gausman missed much of spring training, so his numbers for the year are skewed towards mediocre. The three starts remaining on at least one extra day of rest are reflected well in his career numbers. With five days between starts, Gausman is 32-30 with a 3.20 ERA in 98 starts. For some reason, his only remaining start on six days rest at St. Louis seems like it would have a chance to go south. The caveat being he is 13-23, 4.67 ERA in 52 career starts on 6+ days of rest and is 1-5 lifetime against the Cardinals. His year end totals will fit nicely within his recent range from ’21 to ’23 of 27-33 starts and 157-192 innings.         

JOSE BERRIOS (4)

Date    OPP.    Rest

9/07    @Atl    6 days

9/14    v NYM 6 days

9/20    @TB    5 days

9/27    v Mia   6 days

Berrios social media handle is LaMakina, which reflects the fact that if he makes four more starts, as outlined above, he will post exactly 32 GS for the sixth straight full season (excluding the shortened pandemic 2020 schedule). Amazing. If anyone could use an extra day down the stretch, even the most efficient machine needs a little grease now and then for peak efficiency. With five days rest throughout his career, he is 37-30, 4.10 ERA in 97 starts, while on 6+ days of rest, the 30-year-old is 17-10, 4.18 in 42 starts. Just do it.

YARIEL RODRIGUEZ (4)

Date    OPP.    Rest

9/08    @Atl    6 days

9/15    @StL    6 days

9/21    @TB    5 days

9/28    v Mia   6 days

The volatile 27-year-old Cuban rookie has enough different pitches to be a starter, but does not seem to have the necessary 80-100 pitch focus, yet, and allows his emotions to take over too often in the heat of the moment. But that’s okay. If he logs 3+ innings in each of his last four starts, he will go over 100 innings pitched, combined with his time at AAA-Buffalo, for the first time since 2018 in the Cuban League as a starter at age 21. The Jays need to decide if his best role, moving forward to 2025, is as a high leverage reliever with 2-3 inning capability. He is signed through 2028.   

JAKE BLOSS/RYAN YARBROUGH (3)

Date    OPP.    Rest

9/11    v NYM --

9/22    @TB    10 days

9/29    v Mia   6 days

The expected Bloss promotion has not happened yet, even though he made three MLB starts for the Astros earlier in the year. His most recent Triple-A start for the Bisons was not good, so it’s not a mortal lock that he gets the call. The Jays could go opener and Yarbrough if they so choose, while perhaps sending Bloss to the Arizona Fall League. But I would bring Bloss to the big-league club for three starts.