Jays face rotation decisions with Bieber healthy

John Schneider has a plan with his starting rotation now that newcomer Shane Bieber is healthy and ready to make his Toronto Blue Jays debut.

TORONTO – John Schneider has a plan with his starting rotation now that newcomer Shane Bieber is healthy and ready to make his Toronto Blue Jays debut.

But moments after his team was routed by the Texas Rangers 10-4 before 42,549 at Rogers Centre on Sunday, the Blue Jays manager was reticent about when exactly Bieber slots in this week.

“We got some plans in place,” is all Schneider said.

The Blue Jays announced Kevin Gausman, Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt — in that order — have been scheduled to pitch Toronto’s outings in Pittsburgh against the Pirates on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Blue Jays have Thursday off before beginning a weekend series in Miami against the Marlins.

The 30-year-old Bieber had six days off between his three rehab starts with triple-A Buffalo. He made his last start with Buffalo on Saturday, which puts him on schedule to pitch again in Miami on Friday.

But even though the Blue Jays’ existing starting rotation of Scherzer (41), Bassitt (36), Gausman (34), Jose Berrios (31) and Eric Lauer (30) are 30 or older, they’re each competitors and thrive on heavy workloads.

Berrios hasn’t missed a start in his career. Even though he had won four decisions before his poor outing in the series finale against Texas, he appears ready for a rest.