Blue Jays shuffle order of starting rotation out of All-Star break

The Toronto Blue Jays announced their starting pitchers for this weekend’s series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

José Berríos will start the first game of the series on Friday against Ryne Nelson, All-Stars Kevin Gausman and Zac Gallen will square off on Saturday, and then Yusei Kikuchi will take the mound for the finale on Sunday while the Diamondbacks counter with Tommy Henry.

The Blue Jays came into the season with Alek Manoah as their Opening Day starter, followed by Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Berríos and then Kikuchi in the starting rotation.

When Manoah was sent to the minors, the Blue Jays filled his spot in the rotation with a bullpen day that often featured Trevor Richards and Bowden Francis. They used an off-day in June to move things around so that the bullpen day and Kikuchi’s start didn’t fall on back-to-back days.

We don’t yet know how things will line up when the Blue Jays play their next series against the San Diego Padres but it’s safe to assume that Bassitt will start the first game and then Manoah will start the second. Kikuchi and Manoah have been the most prone to short outings this season so putting a veteran innings easter between the two of them would help mitigate the risk of a couple of poor starts taxing the bullpen.

It’ll be interesting to see what the Blue Jays do when Hyun Jin Ryu is ready to return. The lefty underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery last June and has pitched well across two rehab starts in the Florida Complex League and Low-A. The team could roll with a six-man rotation or they could move one of their starters to the bullpen to serve as a multi-inning hybrid arm.