The mound questions keep mounting for the Toronto Blue Jays.

In the aftermath of Matt Boyd’s first major-league start, tongues will continue to wag as the Jays search for ways to steady a pitching staff that just isn’t getting the job done.

There was genuine curiosity around what the team might get from Boyd, a left-hander who posted fantastic numbers at the double-A level early this year. Was it fair to expect Boyd to come in and dominate the Texas Rangers? Of course not. But let’s be real; there’s always that small corner of the sports mind that says, "Hey, who knows what this young kid might have?"

Then that kid goes out and gives up three homers in a 4-0 loss that could have been worse had there been any base runners aboard when those long flies left the park.

Asked about the lessons he took from his MLB debut, Boyd was quick to note one cold, hard big-league fact.

"The balls up, it gets hit; that’s one thing you can learn," said Boyd, who surrendered solo shots to Mitch Moreland in the fourth, Robinson Chirinos in the fifth and Rougned Odor in the seventh.

Despite the dingers, Boyd’s outing was by no means as dreary as the rainy Toronto weather that forced the Rogers Centre roof closed on Saturday afternoon. The 24-year-old showed some swagger, striking out the first two MLB batters he faced and seven overall while issuing no walks and pitching into the seventh inning. On a lot of days, the Jays’ MLB-best offence could turn an outing like Boyd’s—pitching because of Aaron Sanchez’s back muscle injury—into a win.

"Normally, you get in the seventh inning, you give up three, four runs, with our offence, you feel pretty damn good," said manager John Gibbons.

But that wasn’t even close to the case against Rangers starter Yovani Gallardo, who entered the game having strung together 15 consecutive scoreless innings and registered eight more to bring that total to 23, a number that represents the major’s longest active scoreless streak.

And therein lies the rub. We all know the Jays are going to win more than their share of games when they just knock the stuffing out of the ball. Typically, though, even the best offence is going to be quieted here and there by top-notch pitching, as that old baseball adage has been telling us for years. The issue then becomes, what’s the big-picture cap for this team if it just can’t counter performances like Gallardo’s three-hit gem?

That’s why we keep hearing so much about a possible trade to upgrade both the starting rotation and the bullpen. That’s why, in the deepest recess of their brains, Jays fans were likely clinging to hope that Boyd could deliver something unique, even if deep in their hearts they knew better than to indulge that optimism. Yes, Boyd showed something to his team and manger, who, when asked if the southpaw would see another start, basically said, "why not?" But the Blue Jays aren’t looking for a stopgap; they’re not in the market for somebody who can win when the offence does its usual explosive thing. They need a difference-maker, a hurler who can go out there the way Gallardo did and give the team a positive result even on days when the bats are silent.

One start does not a career make, but it would register as even more of a surprise now if Boyd is the person to fill that role. Assuming it’s not him, then who?

It’s the question that just won’t go away for this squad, especially when the opponent’s guy punctuates the point by demonstrating exactly what elite-level major league pitching looks like.