TORONTO -- All of the hype leading into the Blue Jays’ World Series rematch with the Dodgers Monday just landed with a loud thud.
Max Scherzer exiting the game after just two innings and 36 pitches due to right forearm tendinitis felt like another cruel twist in an already concerning stretch of baseball for Toronto, but it was only the beginning. The 14-2 loss to L.A. at Rogers Centre wasn’t just deflating for a fan base eager to recapture the magic and momentum of that 2025 run, it put even more strain on a gassed pitching staff.
The Blue Jays have now lost five in a row and are staring down Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani on the mound the next two days. Their own pitching is the biggest worry, though.
Manager John Schneider is “fairly confident” that Scherzer will make his next start, but any forearm issue is worrying. This popped up after Scherzer’s last start, and the plan was for a max of three innings Monday, so he hopes that by cutting this short, he’ll be able to bounce back for his next start this coming weekend.
“Given the state of our team and our pitching staff, those were explicit directions. You cannot hurt yourself. You can’t take a risk,” Scherzer said. “It’s much better to be talking about this today after this start, a little forearm strain, versus a forearm strain. We’re not talking about that.”
This all comes after Saturday’s planned bullpen day in Chicago and Sunday’s unplanned one, where a sick Eric Lauer lasted just two innings. That’s 21 innings covered by the Blue Jays’ relievers in just three days and likely another day of roster churn ahead to keep this bullpen above water.
“Totally wasn’t expecting it to be this early, but baseball is baseball,” Schneider said. “You can’t control things. I’m glad that we have other options and glad that those guys understand what we’re asking out of them, each and every one. Every day seems to be a new challenge. There’s going to be a lot of that over the course of the year, so why not now?”
Who are the short-term saviors?
If everyone were healthy, the Blue Jays could use the off-days on Thursday and Monday to keep themselves in a four-man rotation, but that’s not nearly as simple a decision when the flu bug is going around. Toronto needs some length. Whether that comes in the form of a starter or a bulk reliever doesn’t matter right now.
Patrick Corbin just threw 74 pitches for Single-A Dunedin on Saturday after signing a one-year, $1 million deal, and the 36-year-old veteran of 13 MLB seasons could be ready for the big leagues very soon. The potential of another Minor League start is still up in the air, though.
“We’re actually still talking to him about that,” Schneider said prior to the game. “Facing live hitters at Cressey [Sports Performance] is different than facing Minor League hitters, and that’s different than getting thrown into Major League competition. We just want to make sure that he’s good with it. He’s obviously a veteran guy and we’re going to listen to his feedback, too.”
Adam Macko is the other clear option with Triple-A Buffalo, at least until Lazaro Estrada is able to be recalled after being optioned on Sunday. Macko is pitching in shorter stints, though, maxing out at just 26 pitches over his four appearances in Triple-A, so he doesn’t offer as much immediate length as some other options.
What about the long-term saviors?
This is where we can begin to look at Trey Yesavage (right shoulder impingement), José Berríos (right elbow stress fracture) and Shane Bieber (right elbow inflammation), and it’s only a matter of “when” at this point.
Yesavage is closest, and will make another Single-A rehab start on Thursday where he’ll throw roughly four innings and 60 pitches. If that goes well, it’s reasonable to expect that Yesavage could crank it up closer to 75 pitches his next time out, perhaps in Triple-A to work against older hitters. By that point, Yesavage would be built up enough to make it “decision time” for the Blue Jays.
Berríos is still behind Yesavage, but has started facing live hitters, while Bieber is still in the early days of what is essentially his own Spring Training. All the Blue Jays need for now, though, is one healthy starter. They’ll need to bridge the gap to Yesavage -- whether that’s two or three more rehab starts -- and then hope for the best. But they haven’t been having the best luck with that so far in 2026.