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The intriguing and rapidly developing Blue Jays starting pitching situation took another twist on Saturday when veteran Chris Bassitt was placed on the injured list with what the team is describing as back inflammation.
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The move was announced prior to Saturday’s game against the Royals in Kansas City as the Jays head down the home stretch of the regular season trying to lock up top spot in the American League East.
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After his most recent start, in which he lasted 4.1 innings, Bassitt spoke of feeling the effects of the long season. The move is retroactive to Sept. 19, meaning Bassitt will be clear to return to the team for the post season which is likely to begin on Oct. 4 depending on their ability to wrap up an AL East division crown.
How the rotation is configured heading into the playoffs is one of the major questions remaining for the Jays with eight games remaining. It certainly seems that Kevin Gausman and Shane Bieber, who was to start for the Jays on Saturday, have the top two spots locked up. Where manager John Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker go from there remains to be seen.
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Rookie Trey Yesavage, who dazzled in his big-league debut earlier in the week, will start Sunday in what certainly seems like an audition for a possible playoff start.
The Bassitt development — which obviously ends his regular season — came a day after fellow veteran Max Scherzer was rocked by the Royals, getting the hook after recording just two outs and surrendering seven runs to trigger that humiliating 20-1 blowout loss. Scherzer has laboured recently, pitching to a bloated 9.45 ERA over his past five starts, a stretch in which he has allowed seven home runs.
Also on Friday, Jose Berrios, who hasn’t been at his best for much of the season, was relegated to the bullpen where Schneider told reporters in Kansas City that he would spend at least the rest of the weekend series against the Royals.
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In a corresponding move, left hander Mason Fluharty was recalled from triple-A Buffalo and activated for Saturday’s contest. The addition of Fluharty provides some immediate relief given the weary state of a bullpen that is about to play its 12 game in 12 days and was pressed into action early and often in Friday night’s Scherzer debacle.
Berrios, who wasn’t pleased with the demotion, could return to the rotation on turn if needed. But the top priority for the team in the short term is to both lock up a top-two seed in the AL, thus avoiding the wildcard round, and focusing on who will form the top three spots in the rotation for a potential berth in the American League divisional round.
Prior to Saturday’s game, however, Schneider told reporters that helped by Monday’s off day he plans to stick with the current configuration, meaning a four-man rotation that begins with a Yesavage start on Sunday followed by Kevin Gausman, Scherzer and Bieber for the Boston series back in Toronto. Depending on the status of the Jays’ playoff pursuit following that three-game set against the Red Sox, the team could make further adjustments.
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