Dustin McGowan gets fifth spot in Blue Jays’ rotation, will start home opener

There have been many second chances in Dustin McGowan’s baseball career over the last six years. The latest one makes him a starter in Major League Baseball once again.

On Wednesday, the Blue Jays made their final cuts and announced its starting rotation - and it includes McGowan. The fifth starter in a rotation is not usually noteworthy, but for McGowan it marks the conclusion of a long road back from nearly six years of various injuries that derailed his career. McGowan, 32, was a rising star in 2007 when he started 27 games, won 12 and lost a bid for a no–hitter in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies.

But McGowan spent parts of the next six seasons on the disabled list with a serious right shoulder injury, and various foot and oblique injuries. The Blue Jays stuck with McGowan and now he will be the starting pitcher for the home opener against the New York Yankees on April 4. The Blue Jays open the regular season with a four-game series in Tampa Bay against the Rays.

“I was kind of speechless,” McGowan told reporters in Dunedin, Fla., on Wednesday after learning he’d won the fifth spot.

McGowan, a prized prospect, missed all of the 2009 and 2010 seasons and spent 2011 rehabbing in the minors before making four starts for the Blue Jays. His last big-league start came on Sept. 26, 2011. He received a three-year extension from the Blue Jays before the 2012 season, then missed that entire year. He returned to the majors in 2013 and pitched 25.2 innings, all in relief.

McGowan was drafted by the Blue Jays 33^rd overall in the 2000 draft and made his major-league debut in 2005 at age 23.

Veteran knuckleballer R.A. Dickey will pitch on Opening Day in Tampa and be followed in the rotation by Drew Hutchison, Mark Buehrle, Brandon Morrow, and McGowan. Hutchison, himself a season removed from Tommy John surgery, is in the No. 2 spot to avoid having soft-throwing Dickey and Buehrle pitch on back-to-back days.

The Blue Jays will open the season with an eight-man bullpen. A healthy Casey Janssen will resume the closing duties with Sergio Santos, Steve Delabar, Brett Cecil and Aaron Loup serving as set-up and middle-relief men. Esmil Rogers, Todd Redmond and Jeremy Jeffress – all at one time contenders for a spot in the rotation – were out of options and made the bullpen in long-relief roles. J.A. Happ, another contender for a spot in the rotation, will begin the season on the 15-day DL with a back injury.

The backup catcher role somewhat surprisingly went to Josh Thole, who was Dickey’s personal catcher in 2013 and will do the same this year. Thole also caught Dickey when both were with the New York Mets. Thole hit .175/.256/.242 in 135 plate appearances in 2013 and has hit .240 this spring with just one extra-base hit in 25 plate appearances. Catcher Erik Kratz, acquired in the offseason from the Philadelphia Phillies, was given a chance to win the role himself and spent most of spring training catching Dickey. He also hit .400 with two home runs in 27 plate appearances. Nevertheless, the job is Thole's, for now, and Kratz was sent to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons.

Kratz will be joined in Buffalo by the likes of outfielder Anthony Gose and infielders Munenori Kawasaki and Chris Getz. Outfielder Matt Tuiasosopo, claimed off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks last week, was designated for assignment and will head to Buffalo if he clears waivers.

Blue Jays potential Opening Day starting lineup:

1. Jose Reyes, SS

2. Melky Cabrera, LF

3. Jose Bautista, RF

4. Edwin Encarnacion, DH

5. Adam Lind, 1B

6. Colby Rasmus, CF

7. Brett Lawrie, 3B

8. Dioner Navarro, C

9. Ryan Goins, 2B

Bench: Moises Sierra (OF); Josh Thole (C); Maicer Izturis (IF)