Blue Jays' rotation in focus on day where Berrios questions arise

TAMPA, Fla. — The Toronto Blue Jays' rotation is filled with moving pieces and on Wednesday, well, some more pieces moved. 

The club has seven starters in the mix for a spot and while the ultimate configuration of that group is far from determined, there were developments with three such pitchers.

Trey Yesavage pitched in a minor-league simulated game while Eric Lauer did some fine-tuning during a Grapefruit League contest against the New York Yankees, two positives that bookmarked a concerning development surrounding Jose Berrios, whose scheduled start on Thursday is suddenly in question.

Berrios met with general manager Ross Atkins, pitching coach Pete Walker and manager John Schneider in the latter's office at the team's player development complex in Dunedin on Wednesday morning, hours after news broke that the right-hander would not be joining Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals. Berrios, who dealt with elbow inflammation last season, had been hoping to represent his island nation but didn't receive approval from the tournament’s insurers. 

Later Wednesday, Schneider said the Blue Jays were awaiting further medical information on Berrios that stemmed from the testing he underwent for insurance purposes. That could, in turn, prevent him from taking the mound Thursday against the Philadelphia Phillies in what would be his fourth start of the spring.

"We're getting all the information that we can from all the things that he had to do medically to say, OK, why wasn't he granted insurance?" Schneider said from the visitors’ dugout at George M. Steinbrenner Field. "So, we'll gather more information tonight and really take it day by day."

Asked if Berrios was hurt, the manager responded that he "feels good" and added that the team is "waiting for some other opinions and things like that. But all the feedback from him has been really positive."

Schneider said Berrios was disappointed he wasn't able to make it to the WBC. 

"He wanted really badly to pitch for Puerto Rico and I feel bad for him that he couldn't," said the manager. "It's something he takes a lot of pride in, playing for his country. But he understands and is focused on here and now, and the Blue Jays. If last year taught him anything, it's how to handle some ups and downs."

Berrios has allowed four runs on eight hits over 10.2 innings this spring, while getting up to 63 pitches in his last start. However, if any additional imaging or testing were to sideline him, that could impact the Blue Jays’ rotation picture.

Meanwhile, Yesavage was hit hard during his brief outing on Field 2 at the PDC. The right-hander, who is building up slowly following a heavy workload in 2025, surrendered two home runs, three walks and recorded just one out against seven batters on 35 pitches. 

"It was just good to be back out there," Yesavage said. "Defence behind me, facing a lineup and I'm happy with getting to play baseball."

The rookie right-hander said he's where he wants to be and Schneider echoed that, noting that the results didn't matter. 

"I told him I didn't care if he gave up 10 home runs," quipped Schneider. "We just wanted to get his workload up and see what the stuff looked like."

It's unclear if Yesavage's next outing will come in a Grapefruit League game, but the club wants to keep him on a normal pitching turn. That would leave enough time for Yesavage to make two more starts before Opening Day. 

The Blue Jays have assembled impressive rotation depth that should leave them in a strong position even if Berrios and Yesavage do not break camp with the club. 

Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Max Scherzer and Cody Ponce are all healthy and on track, as is Lauer, who allowed four runs on four hits over 3.1 innings and 60 pitches against the Yankees. 

The left-hander was specifically working on his changeup and curveball and said proving himself last season has afforded him a sense of freedom this spring. 

"It's definitely more of a mindset of, OK, what do I want to work on today, rather than, OK, I just got to go out there and get outs and get results and show them that I'm good," Lauer said. 

"It's nice knowing that I can go in and talk to Pete, I can talk to Schneids and be like, ‘This is what I wanna work on today. This is the feeling I wanna have,’ and then we can discuss that after and see how it works, see if it didn't work and what we can do to get better."

As for the team’s crowded rotation picture, Lauer says it hasn't been hard to block out the noise. 

"I know it's something that I really don't have a ton of control over,” said Lauer. “It’s good to have depth going into the season. You know how the game goes these days — guys go down, guys are behind. Whatever happens, happens in spring. 

“You just go out there and try to execute as well as you can, control what I can control, and see what the results are. See what my need is in the season. I mean, obviously, I know what I want to do and I know where I think I help the team best. But sometimes, other things come into play.”

That certainly appears to be the case for the Blue Jays.