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TORONTO — With 30 roster spots to begin their 60-game sprint, the tough decisions facing Charlie Montoyo and the Blue Jays’ front office were few and far between.

Thanks to service time considerations that will keep him off the roster for at least a week, Nate Pearson starts the season on the three-man taxi squad, but the wait won’t be long for one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball and an arm that could quickly change the club’s trajectory if he’s as good as advertised.

An option as soon as July 29, Pearson will eventually slide into a rotation that consists of Hyun-Jin Ryu, Matt Shoemaker, Trent Thornton and Tanner Roark.

For now, some combination of Anthony Kay and Thomas Hatch could be relied upon Sunday in the series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays, setting the stage for Pearson to be recalled next week.

The Jays had been coy about the possibility of Pearson making the team, saying he had as good of a shot as anyone else, fully knowing they have to play the game publicly in order to avoid the MLBPA’s wrath.

Pearson, as intelligent as they come, played the game, too.

“I felt like I put myself in the best position I can to make this team, and whether they say I made it or not, I’m still going to keep working as hard as I normally do and I know my time will come at some point this year,” the 23-year-old said after his final tune-up start Tuesday night in Boston. “I’ve just got to roll with the punches.”

His final line against the Red Sox wasn’t pretty — five hits and four earned runs allowed over 3.2 innings — but all of the damage came in the first inning and the 6-foot-6 right-hander settled in from there.

That could be how it goes for Pearson as a rookie. Many flashes of brilliance, big strikeout totals and jaw-dropping radar gun readings, but some inconsistency is to be expected, as with any young pitcher.

Pearson has learned a lot about facing big-league hitters in his small spring/summer sample size.

“That you can’t make as many mistakes, obviously,” Pearson said. “This is the best of the best. Facing the Red Sox with their ‘A’ lineup in there, it’s very confidence-boosting for me, just to be able to prove my stuff does play … I’m able to get outs at this level.”

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the roster Montoyo is taking to Tampa for opening day on Friday.

LINEUP
1. SS Bo Bichette (R)
2. 2B Cavan Biggio (L)
3. LF Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (R)
4. 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R)
5. 3B Travis Shaw (L)
6. CF Randal Grichuk (R)
7. DH Rowdy Tellez (L)
8. RF Teoscar Hernandez (R)
9. C Danny Jansen (R)

This should be what the lineup looks like against right-handed pitching on most nights to start the season, give or take a lineup shuffle here or there.

At this point, Gurriel Jr. (left side) is on the roster and expected to be ready soon, if not for opening day.

Tellez’s summer camp power display has put him in line for a good share of DH at-bats to begin the year, and the streaky left-handed hitter should play when he’s hot, giving Montoyo a bat to tuck between a bunch of right-handed hitters near the bottom of the lineup.

The Rays will send right-hander Charlie Morton to the hill on Friday, followed by southpaw Ryan Yarbrough on Saturday.

BENCH
1. C Reese McGuire (L)
2. INF/OF Joe Panik (L)
3. OF Anthony Alford (R)
4. OF Derek Fisher (L)
5. SS Santiago Espinal (R)
6. OF Billy McKinney (L)

With the Jays decided to carry an even 15 position players and 15 pitchers to start the season — remember, the expanded rosters drop to 28 in two weeks — it created opportunity for McKinney to make the club as a sixth outfielder.

The most notable addition is that of versatile rookie infielder Espinal, the prospect acquired from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Steve Pearce when the veteran exodus began back in June of 2018.

In addition to the ability to play second, third and outfield, he’ll be Bichette’s primary backup at short, as well.

While the glove and options he gives Montoyo are the important part of this equation, Espinal rapped out 10 hits, including three homers, for a .417 batting average during spring games, impressing the coaching staff in a number of ways.

ROTATION
1. LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu
2. RHP Matt Shoemaker
3. LHP Anthony Kay
4. RHP Trent Thornton
5. RHP Tanner Roark

New ace Ryu and Shoemaker are set for Friday and Saturday, while Sunday looks like the Pearson placeholder day.

Thornton and Roark, signed for two years, $24 million in December, are locked into their respective spots.

How this group fares this season will be the separator between the Jays being a surprise contender and just hoping to get to the .500 mark.

BULLPEN
1. RHP Ken Giles
2. RHP Rafael Dolis
3. RHP Anthony Bass
4. RHP Jordan Romano
5. RHP Shun Yamaguchi
6. RHP Sam Gaviglio
7. RHP A.J. Cole
8. LHP Brian Moran
9. RHP Jacob Waguespack
10. RHP Thomas Hatch

Giles is quietly one of the best closers in baseball and his fastball-slider combo looked as filthy as ever during summer camp.

One of the biggest areas of improvement this season, aside from the rotation, is the back end of the bullpen, where power arms like Dolis, Bass and the emergence of Canadian Romano has pitching coach Pete Walker feeling good about the late-inning options.

Yamaguchi was being stretched out as a starter, and the 33-year-old Japanese import could be used in a variety of roles, with everything from long-man/spot starter to opener on the table.

Hatch, acquired from the Chicago Cubs last year at the deadline in exchange for reliever David Phelps, has been a summer camp revelation, going from potential depth arm at the alternate training site to on the roster and in line for early season work.

Two veterans managed to impress enough to grab spots as non-roster invites, with Cole, 28, and Moran, a 31-year-old left-hander, being added to the 40-man roster.

TAXI SQUAD
1. RHP Nate Pearson (non-roster)
2. LHP Ryan Borucki
3. C Caleb Joseph (non-roster)

Borucki was in the mix for a rotation spot, but rather than shove him into the bullpen — a place he’s never been — the Jays decided carrying him on the taxi squad, a three-man group that will travel with the team, was the best move. They’ll likely find a way to keep Borucki stretched out in case of emergency.

Joseph is on hand as the third catcher and will have to be added to the 40-man roster if one of Jansen or McGuire goes down.

10-DAY INJURED LIST
RHP Chase Anderson (right oblique strain; retroactive to July 20)

Anderson’s oblique strain has been improving, and the Jays are optimistic he may only miss one start. The question is whether there’s even an opening in the rotation when he’s ready.

INJURED
RHP Julian Merryweather (oblique)
RHP Yennsy Diaz (lat strain)
3B Brandon Drury (undisclosed)
OF Jonathan Davis (undisclosed)
RHP Wilmer Font (undisclosed)
RHP Hector Perez (undisclosed)
RHP Elvis Luciano (undisclosed)

This is a murky group of players M.I.A. — you can guess why — or dealing with injuries at the alternate training site.

One important note: Anyone given an undisclosed COVID-19 designation not only opens up a spot on the active 30-man roster, but the 40-man roster, as well.