This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson's Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- Throwing 100 mph is sexy. A 90-mph slider that snaps violently away from a hitter’s bat for strike three? That’s the good stuff.

Everything the modern pitcher does, though, tests the limits of the human body.

Pitching injuries have always been there, but they’re feeling awfully pronounced in 2024. Here in the Bronx, the Blue Jays are sneaking through a series against the Yankees without facing Gerrit Cole, who is on the 60-day IL with right elbow discomfort that flared up in camp. Within 24 hours of this series opening came news that Cleveland’s Shane Bieber would undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow and Atlanta’s Spencer Strider was headed for further testing with a damaged right elbow ligament.

Left and right, the game’s best pitchers are going down. The Blue Jays had a handful of minor scares in camp, but for the most part, they’ve avoided the biggest issues.

Having a great starting rotation is nice … but having a healthy starting rotation has been Toronto's true strength over the past year-plus.

“It is weird around the league. It’s almost to the point where it’s a little concerning,” said manager John Schneider. “Is it pitch design? Is it the pitch clock? Is it pitch usage? I know there are a lot of different opinions on it, but we like to think that we have a pretty good system set up by Andrew Pipken, Jeff Ware and Pete Walker. So far, so good.”

So, what’s the magic solution?

“Some of it is luck, for sure,” Schneider said. “Pitchers get hurt, we know that. We like to think that we have a pretty good system in place with throwing programs -- when to throw more and when to throw less, both offseason and in-season. So far, so good. Knock on wood.”

The Blue Jays’ training staff deserves some serious credit here, and the veterans in this rotation will tell you the same. There’s also a crucial level of honesty in this group. They aren’t rookies trying to cling to a roster spot. These starters have, for the most part, signed their big deals and established their reputations. They’re perfectly comfortable with telling Walker or the training staff when they need an extra day or aren’t quite 100%.

“If they want to skip a side, they skip a side,” Schneider said. “If they want to take a light day throwing, take a light day throwing.”

That’s not as common as you might think. This all comes together -- yes, with a little luck -- to form a rotation that is still the foundation of this roster.

Who's up next?

No. 1 prospect Ricky Tiedemann is still finding his footing with Triple-A Buffalo and walks were an issue on Friday (four over 1 2/3 frames) in his second start of the season. His time will come, but the Blue Jays can be patient with Tiedemann if he’s not kicking the door down right away.

Enter Yariel Rodriguez, who looked fantastic in his Triple-A debut, striking out six batters over four hitless innings. He was aggressive, which fits his personality so well on the mound, and immediately flashed the upside the Blue Jays are betting on. There’s a strong internal desire to keep Rodriguez on a starter’s schedule for now, and if you take a look around the league, you’ll see plenty of reasons why he should stay there … just in case.

Beyond those two, the Blue Jays have No. 15 prospect Chad Dallas, who had a tough outing (six runs on six hits and three walks in four innings) on Saturday but impressed in camp, and veteran Paolo Espino, who was added to the active roster on Friday.

What about Alek Manoah?

Sunday was supposed to be a big step for Manoah, as he made his first rehab start with Single-A Dunedin. Instead, we watched as Manoah threw 16 of his first 18 pitches for balls and battled his control for 1 2/3 difficult innings. Manoah allowed seven runs (six earned) on five hits and four walks, so this outing raised more questions than answers for the Blue Jays.

It’s dangerous to read too deeply into a rehab start, especially one that featured some Single-A-caliber defense behind Manoah, but the Blue Jays need to see results eventually. This is about more than just getting healthy and building up Manoah’s pitch count.

Whether the Blue Jays choose to send Manoah to Triple-A soon or slow-play this, he’ll have plenty of time to get himself right. They can already go eight deep in their starting rotation ahead of Manoah, so he’ll need to leapfrog a few pitchers in this rehab process.