Blue Jays Confirm Starting Rotation To Begin Season

[Leo Morgenstern]

On Saturday morning, Blue Jays manager John Schneider confirmed his starting rotation to begin the 2026 season.

As we already knew, Kevin Gausman will take the ball on Opening Day against the Athletics. He will be followed by Dylan Cease and Eric Lauer to close out the first series of the year. After that, when the Jays welcome the Rockies to the Rogers Centre, Cody Ponce and Max Scherzer will take the bump for the first two games, before (presumably) handing the ball back to Gausman.

At one point, it seemed like Toronto had too many good starting pitchers to choose from. Yet, in the end, the Blue Jays and Schneider didn't have any difficult decisions to make. Shane Bieber, José Berríos, and Trey Yesavage will all begin the season on the IL, leaving five starters left for five jobs. 

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[G-Snarls]

As expected 

Thankful to have signed Scherzer last minute 

[Stangstag]

34 minutes ago, G-Snarls said:

As expected 

Thankful to have signed Scherzer last minute 

Almost like they knew we would be a few arms short to start the year…

Here’s hoping Scherzer is feeling a bit better at the start of this season 

[bronson44]

2 hours ago, G-Snarls said:

As expected 

Thankful to have signed Scherzer last minute 

Also thankful he came into camp ready and already somewhat stretched out. He seemed to slot into the spring mix at the same pitch limit as the starters were that were there from the beginning. I'm kind of excited to see what he can do now that he doesn't have that thumb issue.

[Orgfiller]

12 hours ago, bronson44 said:

Also thankful he came into camp ready and already somewhat stretched out. He seemed to slot into the spring mix at the same pitch limit as the starters were that were there from the beginning. I'm kind of excited to see what he can do now that he doesn't have that thumb issue.

At his age and with this much mileage, I probably wouldn't assume Scherzer is "free" from any potentially lingering ailments. Just gotta hope that in the time he's healthy he produces at a reasonable level, and anything extra in terms of durability or legit good performance is gravy.