Kevin Gausman might have received a clean bill of health at the end of spring training, but it has since become clear that something isn’t quite right with the Blue Jays’ undisputed ace.
During his second start of the season, Gausman’s velocity was down, his command was off and the two-time all-star never looked comfortable from the moment he stepped on the mound.Â
Gausman served up five earned runs on four hits and a pair of walks across just 1 1/3 innings in a 9-8 loss to the Yankees on Saturday night. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton homered as Gausman failed to strike anybody out in the shortest start of his Jays tenure.
Alarm bells started going off early Saturday evening as even untrained observers could notice something was off. Gausman averaged 94.7 m.p.h. on four-seam fastballs during his first start against Tampa Bay. His first pitch of the night to Gleyber Torres was clocked at just
Gausman’s first pitch to the next hitter, Juan Soto, was even more troubling. The four-seamer came in at such a reduced speed of 86.9 m.p.h. that it might have caught the Yankees slugger off-guard. Soto swung through the pitch before drawing a walk.
The rest of the first inning continued in similar fashion. Judge homered on a slower than normal splitter. Stanton went deep on a 91.3-m.p.h. fastball. As the Yankees scored three in the first, Gausman’s average velocity was down 3.9 on his fastball and 3.7 on his splitter.
The script remained the same in the second. Gausman continued to experience diminished velocity throughout the first three at-bats before Torres stepped to the plate with nobody out. Gausman reached back and finally topped 94 m.p.h. on three pitches before Torres just missed a grand slam and settled for a sacrifice fly.
Soto added an RBI single in the following at-bat, which chased Gausman from the game. He finished the outing averaging 91.4 m.p.h. on the four-seamer and 82.3 m.p.h. on his splitter, down 3.3 m.p.h. and 4.0 respectively. He retired just four batters and the Jays fell into an early 6-0 deficit they would not recover from.
Gausman’s bizarre outing came on the heels of an even stranger spring. He missed almost all of his team’s exhibition games after dealing with shoulder issues early in camp. The 33-year-old did not return until a few days before his club’s season opener, limiting the Pirates to one run in three innings.
The Jays were so impressed with the start that they decided Gausman didn’t require any other tune-ups. Gausman concurred and the plan called for the two-time all-star to continue getting stretched out at the big-league level instead of at extended spring training.
Gausman’s first regular-season outing made that decision seem wise. He limited the Rays to one run on a pair of hits across 4 1/3 innings while showcasing normal velocity. After the game, his only regret was not having a higher pitch count.
More optimism was expected on Saturday. Gausman was tentatively scheduled to throw approximately 80-90 pitches but with the Yankees teeing off, he was limited to 51 in the Bronx. What that means for his next outing remains unknown.
Gausman’s diminished velocity raises questions about his health, but there could have been other factors at play on Saturday. It was a chilly night in New York, with an opening-pitch temperature of 10 C.
Exactly , Gausman had a start in similar conditions at Kansas City where his fastball was only moderately better at 91.7 m.p.h. The difference then was that he tossed six scoreless against a much weaker lineup than New York’s.
But there have been other starts like this during Gausman’s time with the Jays that had nothing to do with weather. He occasionally has outings when his velocity is down, but it typically happens when his workload is high and he doesn’t have a long break between outings. He threw just 69 pitches in his last start and was working on an extra day’s rest against the Yankees.
The cold might have been a legitimate issue, but not fatigue. If it was, that’s concerning because it either means getting Gausman stretched out is going to be more challenging than the Jays thought, or there’s an underlying issue that hasn’t been discovered.
With an offence struggling as much as Toronto’s, this group can ill-afford to lose Gausman for an extended period of time. Based on the way things have been going, it can’t afford to watch him struggle for very long either.
The sirens were going off in the Bronx on Saturday. For the Jays’ sake, they had better hope Gausman’s diminished velocity was an early season anomaly. If it wasn’t, a diminished pitch count is the least of his concerns.
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