Jays might be building formidable rotation

The Toronto Blue Jays rotation was always going to be one of the great unknowns for the 2021 season, one of the more notable ground under repair areas with the team.

And it may well continue to be that way.

But as the team looks to swat aside injury adversity in the early going, the potential of a 1-2-3 punch at the top of the rotation remains a possibility.

First to Sunday, when Robbie Ray somehow pulled out the magician's act through five shutout innings that were nowhere near as efficient in the box score of what ultimately turned into a 2-0 loss to the Royals.

Battling the control problems that had plagued him in recent seasons, Ray was rusty. He left the bases loaded in each of the first two innings, took 91 pitches to get through five and left no fewer than 10 on the basepaths on the afternoon.

Given it was just his second outing after suffering a minor elbow injury late in spring training, there will be a tendency to dismiss Sunday's effort as an outlier. We'll see how that unfolds, but, if true, the Jays may suddenly have a formidable top three to start games.

Between ace Hyun-jin Ryu and Steven Matz, who was superb on Saturday, that pair is 4-1 in six starts with a combined earnedrun average of 1.69.

“It's huge,” Jays pitching coach Pete Walker said on Sunday. “Those guys at the top definitely set the tone. Ryu's been off to a good start. Matz is off to a good start, and Ray obviously had a great spring and we expect him to continue to throw well.

“Those guys will feed off each other and then we hope we can get a couple other guys to step up and fall right in line there. But if we have some stability at the top of the rotation, it sets thing up better for sure.”

While Ray was able to avoid trouble, the fact that he wasn't able to go deep exposed the depth issues in the overworked Jays bullpen. With so many high profile, high-leverage arms out to injury and the others worn out from a Saturday doubleheader, the Jays were doomed on Sunday.

GAME ON

It was apparent early on that Ray did not have his best stuff as he had allowed four walks in an inning and a third and took 47 pitches to get through the second . ... The first runs of the game didn't come until the bottom of the seventh when sometimes Jays starter T.J. Zeuch allowed a single, homer and double on his first three pitches. The big blow was that two-run blast by Salvador Perez to break the shutout . ... Zeuch, meanwhile, couldn't get out of the inning, managing just two outs and leaving runners on the corners and requiring Tanner Roark to come in to mop up.