Blue Jays' Ryan Feierabend: May not start Thursday

The Blue Jays may not have Feierabend start the next time his turn comes up Thursday against the Red Sox with Clayton Richard (knee) trending toward a return from the 10-day injured list this week, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

When the Blue Jays required a new rotation member over the weekend against the White Sox, the journeyman knuckleballer was a surprise choice to make a spot start. As one might expect from a pitcher who hadn't appeared in the big leagues since 2014, Feierabend labored through his four innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and a walk in a losing effort. It's apparent that Feierabend is merely keeping a seat warm for Richard, who tossed 48 pitches in his first rehab start Saturday for Triple-A Buffalo. Though Richard won't be ready to assume a normal starter's workload if deemed available Thursday, the Blue Jays may be comfortable with deploying him as a primary pitcher out of the bullpen. Feierabend would represent the most logical candidate to lose his roster spot whenever Toronto decides to activate Richard.