Schneider says trust remains in struggling Jays' rotation: 'It's early'

It hasn't been a good first week of the season for Toronto Blue Jays' starting pitchers as their combined ERA sits at 10.80 through four games.

The latest disappointment came Monday night in Kansas City when Jose Berrios allowed seven earned runs over 5.2 innings in an eventual 9-5 loss to the Royals that dropped Toronto to 1-3 on the season. But despite the struggles, manager John Schneider isn't losing faith in his starting five.

“It’s tough to kind of crawl out of a hole every night, but we trust these guys. It’s early. The beginning of the year is tough," he said.

Alek Manoah surrendered 11 baserunners in 3.1 innings and allowed five earned runs on Opening Day. Chris Bassitt allowed four home runs and nine earned in a shade over three innings in the series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals, while Berrios got off to a miserable start in what the Blue Jays hope is a bounce-back campaign for him. 

Schneider said Berrios left too many pitches over the heart of the plate Monday in his season debut. 

“Good and bad. Really good innings and just pitches in the middle of the plate, which is what we’re trying to avoid," he said. “The stuff was there, but the consistency of it wasn't."

Berrios turned in a 5.23 ERA in 2022 -- his worst since his rookie season -- and allowed a league-high 199 hits and 100 earned runs. He is in the second year of a seven-year, $131 million contract.

Bassitt and the Blue Jays agreed to a three-year, $63 million contract this past off-season after he went 15-9 with a 3.42 ERA in 30 starts last season with the New York Mets.  

Yusei Kikuchi will take the hill Tuesday night as the Jays continue their four-game set from Kaufmann Stadium. He is looking for a bounce-back campaign of his own after yielding a 5.19 ERA and being relegated to the bullpen in his debut season with the Jays in 2022.