Makeup doubleheader shouldn’t disrupt Blue Jays’ pitching plans

NEW YORK — A doubleheader Sunday against the New York Yankees after Saturday’s weather postponement will allow Kevin Gausman to start on an extra day of rest while not substantially disrupting the Toronto Blue Jays’ pitching plans.

Gausman, who’ll pitch the opener in the traditional twin-bill, was due to start for the second time this season on a normal turn, sacrificing an extra day of rest with the fifth spot being skipped after Easton Lucas’ demotion. 

Now, Chris Bassitt, slated to start the second game, will be the only Blue Jays starter to lose the extra day through this turn of the rotation, starting for the second time this season on normal rest.

With no timeline to return for Max Scherzer, who threw 27 pitches off a mound Friday, the Blue Jays were still working through their plans to cover the rotation’s vacant fifth spot, which next comes up Wednesday at home against the Boston Red Sox. Bowden Francis starts the opener of that series with Jose Berrios set for Thursday’s finale, both with the benefit of an extra day.

Paxton Schultz — who hasn’t pitched since debuting with 4.1 shutout innings and eight strikeouts behind a shaky Lucas last Sunday — is one option for that outing, possibly as part of some type of piggyback plan. 

Veteran lefty Eric Lauer, who threw five shutout innings with five strikeouts for triple-A Buffalo against Rochester on Thursday, would be on turn for that day, while Jake Bloss, who’s on the 40-man roster and is slated to start Sunday for the Bisons, is coming off a 4.2-shutout inning, seven-strikeout outing after four shaky starts.

Whichever way the Blue Jays fill that gap, Gausman pitches on normal rest May 2 in the opener of a three-game set against the Cleveland Guardians, followed by Bassitt on an extra day and Francis on normal rest.

Another off-day May 5 gives the Blue Jays an opportunity to again skip the fifth spot and push the opening to May 10, but that would require everyone in the rotation to take a turn on normal rest. The alternative, however, is that the rotation stop-gap pitches both the May 6 opener at the Los Angeles Angels and the May 11 finale at the Seattle Mariners. 

The Blue Jays have been reluctant to do that, however, sensitive to the cumulative impact taking away extra rest can have on their heavily worked veteran rotation trio. 

Since his first full season in the majors in 2017, the 30-year-old Berrios ranks second in the majors in innings pitched at 1,381.1 while Gausman, 34, is sixth at 1,701.2 since 2014. The 36-year-old Bassitt is sixth in innings at 945.2 since 2019, his first full season back after reconstructive elbow surgery in May 2016.

Both teams are eligible to add a 27^th man for the doubleheader and with off-days bookending Sunday, the Blue Jays could opt for a position player rather than an extra arm. Daulton Varsho, who played in his fourth rehab game for Buffalo on Friday, would be an interesting position-play possibility, advancing a return that was expected by Tuesday.

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