Dustin McGowan earned himself another turn in the starting rotation Tuesday. Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons confirmed that the right-hander is not about to lose his rotation spot to Marcus Stroman, J.A. Happ or anyone else.
“You’ll see him back out there,” Gibbons said on Baseball Central on Sportsnet 590 The FAN.
McGowan, who is diabetic, pitched with an insulin pump Tuesday in an attempt to regulate his blood sugar. It worked, as he pitched six innings against the Kansas City Royals, allowing two earned runs. Still, with a season ERA of 5.87 and just two starts of more than four innings, the Blue Jays need to see continued improvement from the 32-year-old.
The Blue Jays could still expand their rotation to six pitchers in order to give their starters a breather during a stretch with no built-in days off. Stroman would be a leading candidate for a spot start in that scenario.
INJURY UPDATES: Melky Cabrera and Brett Lawrie are both day to day, Gibbons said. Cabrera isn’t expected to miss more than a couple of days at most after being hit in the left shin with a pitch from Royals reliever Danny Duffy, and the Blue Jays expect Brett Lawrie to be ready to play Thursday after resting Wednesday due to back soreness.
However, closer Casey Janssen is further away. He’s scheduled to throw another side session in Pittsburgh Friday, after which a rehabilitation stint could be scheduled. But after missing so much time, Gibbons expects that Janssen would need more than two or three rehab outings to be ready for game action.
FRANCISCO’S FUTURE: The Blue Jays would like to keep Juan Francisco around when Adam Lind returns from the disabled list. Gibbons has been impressed with Francisco’s bat early on. “He’s got as much power as anybody, and he’ll give you a good at bat,” Gibbons said.