Facing the best team in baseball this weekend, the Milwaukee Brewers (at least based on record), and facing a huge series against the New York Yankees next weekend, the Toronto Blue Jays have unofficially tipped their hand on exactly how their starting rotation will line up in the MLB postseason.
All the hubbub around the team (aside from the dreadful bullpen) has been centered around the supposed six-man rotation dilemma and how things will shake out for the playoffs. But at this point, with the way the Blue Jays have lined up for these two big upcoming series, it seems to be a fait accompli.
Ever since Shane Bieber touched down last Friday with a spectacular six innings of one-run, two-hit ball with nine strikeouts, the Jays, using a smattering of off-days to dance around and mix and match, will ensure, as has been expected, that the postseason starting rotation will line up exactly as it will this weekend vs. the Brew Crew:
- Shane Bieber
- Kevin Gausman
- Max Scherzer
And really, is there any other reasonable option?
This was all put into play by the announcement that the team will push back Jose Berrios to start against the Cincinnati Reds next Tuesday. That’s 10 days between starts for Berrios, but he’s carrying a 4.58 ERA over his last seven outings, including getting shelled in six of his last 13 starts. Berrios doesn’t have much say in the matter.
Eric Lauer, the lefty whom John Schneider skipped for his previous turn in the rotation, didn’t do anything to help his case Wednesday night after the Minnesota Twins torched him for 10 hits and eight runs (six of them earned) in 4.2 innings.
We’ll leave Chris Bassitt out of this for now, as he’ll remain a nice option for a No. 4 starter in the playoffs, if and when that’s needed.
But Bieber? The former Cy Young winner proved, with just one start last Friday, that he is head-of-the-staff capable, and until he proves otherwise, he’ll be at the top of this rotation, and will take the ball for Game 1 of the playoffs just over a month from now.
Former MLB All-Star closer Dan Plesac said on MLB Network, “If Shane Bieber is that guy for the next four weeks, he’s Number One [in a postseason series].”
Gausman will be more than motivated to show out well in the playoffs after two frustrating results in the Wild Card Series debacles of 2022 and 2023.
As for Scherzer, manager John Schneider would need an army to keep the fiery veteran out of the postseason rotation. A three-time Cy Young winner with two World Series rings and a ton of playoff experience, Mad Max has been on a great run of late, 4-1 in August with a 2.61 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP.
So with the Jays’ pitching rotation set through the weekend against Milwaukee, and the mid-week series against the Cincinnati Reds shaping up to feature Bassitt, Berrios, and almost certainly Lauer, that sets them up once again for a Bieber, Gausman, Scherzer matchup against the Yankees the following weekend, in a series that could go a long way to determining the AL East champion.
And if everything goes as planned, that same threesome will be rolled out once again when the Blue Jays enter their most important postseason in nine years.
