The Toronto Blue Jays experienced a disappointing loss against the Minnesota Twins on Saturday afternoon at Rogers Centre, falling 9-4 in a game that felt like a Michael Bay movie. While navigating the pitching staff in Alek Manoah’s absence was never going to be easy, the Blue Jays got compelling performances from their staff for seven innings, before everything unraveled late.
Before Adam Cimber allowed a grand slam to Carlos Correa to begin the eighth inning outpour, the Blue Jays had been in control of the game. Trevor Richards thrived as the opener, striking out seven batters while allowing one walk and one hit. Tasked with going once through the Twins’ order, Richards managed to hold things down for 53 pitches, delivering the most he’s thrown since 2020. Bowden Francis also made a solid season debut, pitching in relief for 2 2/3 frames on 33 pitches, yielding a solo homer to bring the game to 3-1.
Even with the Blue Jays sporting a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning, the entire game had high leverage, and despite having thrown just 33 pitches in the outing, Francis didn’t return for the eighth. Cimber took over the ball and allowed three singles, followed by a one-out grand slam to Correa. Cimber hit one, allowed a fourth single to another, before Mitch White returned from the recently reinstated position and yielded a three-run homer to Max Kepler.
As the two-run lead turned into an 8-3 deficit, closer Jordan Romano sat back down, and White returned to pitch the ninth. Despite Francis’ competitive urge to keep going, Saturday’s three-strikeout showing was a positive return after roughly 14 months away from the Majors. Francis appeared to be in good spirits and shared, “I was just trying to stay in the moment. I kept worrying about breathing, just staying in the moment and feeling comfortable. It was a good day, but not a good day for the team. So I’ll just keep going forward and hopefully I’ll keep getting innings in.”
But with no real blueprint for Manoah’s return as he works to return to form after a surprisingly bad start to the season, Toronto’s rotation options beyond its five Opening Day starters are severely limited. Recalling Francis and reinstating White from the 60-day injured list gave the bullpen some backup, but these are stopgap solutions to a problem that may linger.
Casey Lawrence, who made six appearances with the big league team last season, has pitched to a 5.81 ERA in 12 starts with the Bisons this year. A buzzy option would be No. 3 prospect Yosver Zulueta, but he hasn’t exactly dominated in Buffalo, posting a 4.91 ERA in 17 appearances and seven starts. Meanwhile, top prospect Ricky Tiedemann has not thrown since May 4 with a left biceps issue, and even if he’d been healthy, the club likely wouldn’t have expedited the lefty’s development.
Lessons in preparation are valuable assets as the Blue Jays sail through uncharted waters. While the team can take positives from the game, it is clear that they need to find more depth in their pitching staff if they are going to contend this season. This loss highlights the need for more options in the rotation beyond the current five starters. The Blue Jays will have to explore their options in the bullpen and rely on their younger prospects to step up if they want to remain competitive in a tough season.
