Spring of Rock: Toronto's superstar rotation taking shape

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Great rotations have a sense of harmony, something more than just the sum of five pitchers all added together.

Nestled in the far right corner of the Blue Jays’ clubhouse, these starters live in a world of their own. Kevin Gausman is the leader now, carrying all of the wisdom and wounds of a World Series run. Running alongside him are Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage and José Berríos, but from a distance, you might mistake the two new guys -- Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce -- for Gausman.

“They’ve fit in well, especially with Kevin with their hair and their beards,” said John Schneider, laughing in front of the cameras for the first time this season. “The three of them are kind of rolling around like a rock band right now.”

Now coming to the stage, the 2026 Blue Jays rotation, one of the best in baseball and their best bet at returning to the World Series.

Lead Vocals: Dylan Cease

The frontman with a sense of style -- or at least his own sense of style -- Cease has strolled into the Blue Jays’ player development complex the last two days wearing Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse sweaters. By baseball standards, he’s an eccentric.

Cease joked Wednesday that he gets bored easily, so he’s always jumping to the next hobby. He paints, loves disc golf and got into beekeeping with his father. Lately, he’s been fixated on cigars and vintage clothing, with vintage tees and crewnecks taking up most of his time.

“I love to lowball on eBay,” Cease said with a big grin.

While this rotation is spilling over with worthy candidates, Cease feels likeliest to be the man out in front on Opening Day. Wildly talented, Cease knows that one thing separates very good starting pitchers and the truly great ones, which is consistency. If you had a dollar for each time Cease said the word “consistency” on Wednesday, you could buy a ticket to that Opening Day start.

Lead guitar: Kevin Gausman

Now in the fifth and final year of his deal, Gausman owns the clubhouse. He walked through Wednesday, that long hair spilling past his shoulders now, as he begins for another journey back up the mountain.

While Cease is the new face of this rotation, Gausman is already one of the best signings in Blue Jays history and pitched well in the 2025 postseason, emptying the tank each time. There will be times for Gausman to rip a 10-minute guitar solo this season, because his best days are still truly dominant, but he’ll still be tasked with keeping this entire group in rhythm and on time.

Rhythm guitar: Trey Yesavage

The understudy to take over the lead role a year from now from Gausman, Yesavage is living a young pitcher’s dream with all of this talent around him. It’s easiest to draw a line from Yesavage to Gausman, given their incredible splitters, but he’ll also work on that pitch with Ponce and lean on the experience of these veterans.

There’s no “hiding” Yesavage after what he just did in the postseason, but in so many organizations, he’d be thrust forward as the leader already. Being able to transition into a full-time big-leaguer with all of this talent around him is a major advantage.

Drums: José Berríos

Steady and relentless, Berríos will soon remind everyone where the whole "La Makina" persona comes from. While the 2025 season ended awkwardly with Berríos unhappy, the past is the past and both sides appear ready to move forward. Very few pitchers in baseball have been as reliable as Berríos for the past decade. He’s ol’ reliable, once again.

Bass guitar: Cody Ponce

The big man with a big personality should be an immediate fan favorite in Toronto, and like a good bass player, he may not be the star of the show, but he’s absolutely essential. Ponce represents the unknown, the tantalizing upside this rotation needs after reinventing himself in both Japan and Korea. If Ponce can give the Blue Jays a full season of a sub-4.00 ERA, we could be looking at one of the most talented rotations in Major League Baseball.

Keys: Shane Bieber

If The Doors and Pink Floyd had a keyboardist, so can the Blue Jays. Bieber brings such a different look to this rotation, adding texture and an ability to surprise people. He’ll be brought along slowly as he deals with forearm fatigue, but this group will be able to create its fullest, brightest sounds when he’s part of the group.