Toronto Blue Jays: Trent Thornton provides optimism for pitching rotation

Despite losing against the New York Yankees, Trent Thornton continues to show his potential with the Toronto Blue Jays going forward.

There has been a lot of debate about the Toronto Blue Jays bleak outlook when it comes to their pitching rotation but you can’t ignore some of the results being shown by Trent Thornton.

It hs certainly been an up and down season for the 25-year-old but when you consider this is his first season in the MLB and the Blue Jays should be encouraged by what he has produced in arguably the toughest division to pitch against in the league.

Going up against the New York Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka, Thornton pitched six innings allowing a run on three hits, a walks with six strikeouts. Usually that would be more than enough to earn a win but unfortunately, Tanaka countered with eight innings allowing three hits and no runs.

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Toronto would go on to lose the game 1-0 and when you consider how the offence has performed the past couple of weeks, these are the types of losses that you will accept rather than blowing a six-run lead to the Tampa Bay Rays. Regardless, what should make Blue Jays fans optimistic is knowing that Thornton is a part of this team’s future and the example of a prospect you don’t have to give up a lot to acquire.

If you don’t remember, the Blue Jays traded Aledmys Diaz to the Houston Astros for Thornton this past off-season after the Blue Jays traded J.B. Woodman for Diaz back in 2018. Woodman has not played in the major leagues yet and Diaz has played 40 games for Houston hitting .276/.314/.504 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs.

These are the types of trades management has done well over the past few years even though many have been critical of what the team did at the trade deadline. Clearly, if they see a player they like, they are willing to give them an opportunity.

While Thornton is only a small piece in what is a bigger puzzle this front office needs to resolve, it doesn’t hurt to know you have something that fits the plan. Considering the team also has Ryan Borucki, Jacob Waguespack and Sean Reid-Foley who is trying to prove he is ready to take the next step.

Mark Shapiro spoke recently about the faith the Blue Jays organization has in pitching prospects like Nate Pearson, Julian Merryweather, Anthony Kay, Patrick Murphy, TJ Zeuch long with the younger pieces like Alex Manoah, and Simeon Woods Richardson.

It is comforting to know the front office is confident in their ability to develop enough pitchers to the majors but we also know the team is going to need veterans as well and that shouldn’t be overlooked. This doesn’t mean going out and doing what Alex Anthopoulos did and trade away a big part of the farm for short term solutions.

What will help is not needing to go out and get that No. 1 starter and hoping more of your prospects can fill the gaps but that will take time and patience.

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What are your thoughts on the Blue Jays pitching outlook going forward? Do you think the team has enough options going forward? Let us know in the comments below,

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