The Toronto Blue Jays pitchers and catchers will arrive at their state-of-the-art players complex in Dunedin, Florida, on February 12th with a serious spring in their step. Adding an upgraded offense should ensure a 2025 season of dramatically improved run support for this pitching staff, which has always offered maximum effort. Most recently, a pivotal piece was added to this already sharp 1-4 starting rotation.
The great Max Scherzer will bring his still lethal arsenal of pitching to the back end of a 1-5 that is among the very best in the game. Yes, excitement abounds in the Blue Jays clubhouse, and there is no longer an elephant of uncertainty in the room. This team is gearing up not only to compete in 2025, they expect to win.
The starting rotation remains rock solid, not only 1-3, as was the case heading into last season, but again one through five. With Kevin Gausman coming off of a subpar season for his standards, he remains the ace. Two years removed from his top three Cy Young season, Gausman will be the first to benefit from improved run support.
Chris Bassitt is interchangeable with Jose Berrios as the number two starter. Bassitt is coming off of his worst season as a Blue Jays pitcher. That said, he still took the ball every fifth day amid constant trade talk and a deflated, underperforming ball club that, like Gausman, offered little to no run support.
If the Jays respond, as expected, with dramatically improved offensive numbers, then Bassitt will respond in kind. He is a gamer who wears his emotions on the field. The stuff is still there. Look for a huge bounce back from Bassitt this year and for him to be in the conversation for comeback player of the year (well, at least the Blue Jays version of…).
The number three, bound to change based on durability and performance, is Jose Berrios. Like Bassitt, Berrios will always take the ball without question or reservation. Unlike Bassitt, however, Berrios will march to his beat and easily compartmentalize his task on the mound. Never allowing the frustrations that were happening all around him to influence his level of focus.
As a starting pitcher who goes from the stretch, Berrios’ approach reflects his athleticism. He was never one to tip his pitches or slip into a funk of sporadic lack of control. Berrios will be good (not excellent) and can be penciled in for an almost guaranteed 32 starts and 170 innings. Very few teams have a number three starter who can make such a claim.
The wildcard of this rotation is Bowden Francis. Named after the legendary Florida State football coach, Mr. Francis quickly makes a name for himself north of the border and becomes a fan favorite. His stuff showed flashes of brilliance across one four-game stretch last August and September. Taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning on two separate starts just two weeks apart.
Francis proved that he was not just a flash in the pan. Over a sample size of 25 starts, he held opposing hitters to a minuscule .192 batting average and a WHIP of 0.90, offering a good sense of what this 28-year-old pitcher is all about. Look for Francis to be battle-tested this season and rack up more than 150 innings.
That leaves the legend at the back of the rotation. Of course, in most cases, Scherzer would be an automatic ace with any other club. In this case, he will be the first to acknowledge that he will need to earn his stripes with his new team to have that title. What an exciting position to be in for any team! To have the great Max Scherzer as your number-five starter.
While we shouldn’t expect a Cy Young season from the future Hall of Famer, his stuff still plays. His fastball velo still plays at a respectable 92-93mph average, if not dominant. Scherzer will still get his strikeouts and bring his usual impeccable command to a team with a strong defense behind him. If Scherzer can throw 150 innings as a number-five starter, it will likely translate to the Blue Jays being in serious playoff contention.
There will be a need for spot starts here and there for this Blue Jays rotation. Enter Yariel Rodriguez, last season’s expected number five, who made 21 starts in his first year with the club. Rodriguez won only one game, but again, that wasn’t his fault, and this should not reflect how effective he was for the season.
He was decent. The Blue Jays will need him to continue his momentum as he takes on the spot starter and middle relief role. Then, of course, there is Alek Manoah. Unfortunately, there is nothing to report. It seems from his socials that he is staying in shape. That is great to see. As for his level of readiness and ability to get Major League hitters out? We’ll have to wait and see what the future holds for him.
Should we be concerned about the lack of lefthanders on this staff? Perhaps not with the starting rotation, but there will be a need in the bullpen for a southpaw to be called upon in certain high-leverage situations.
That remains an area of need for the Blue Jays. They have added lefty Josh Walker, who showed some efficiency with the Mets last season. Brendon Little, who, with his success last season, will likely see more work in the later innings this year, is the club’s best-lefthanded pitcher at the moment.
Erik Swanson made Blue Jays fans forget about the loss of Teoscar Hernandez in 2023. In fact, for a while, the Blue Jays came out on top of their deal with the Mariners. Let’s give Swanson a pass for his dismal 2024, as the split-finger expert was no better or worse than most of his teammates.
Uncontrollable circumstances distracted him from Spring Training last year. Look for a Swanson resurgence in 2025, back to the seventh-inning setup man role. He can be called upon and expected to shut down the side, just as he did in Seattle and with the Blue Jays in 2025.
That leaves a closer-by-committee situation in camp. Chad Green will likely assume the role on opening day, and he has the skills to excel. This space has not been as dominant with any team in recent years.
Even the great Emmanuel Clase got hit hard at times, especially in the playoffs, often heartbreakingly. Yimi Garcia will challenge Green for the role, but Garcia has typically been his best as an 8th-inning, high-leverage hold guy.
Blue Jays fans are excited about what is to come, and rightfully so. From a pitching standpoint, they are sold, perhaps more so than in recent years when they were expected to make a playoff run. Fans hope this will be the year the Blue Jays truly play to their great potential.
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