GDB 99.0: Will the Toronto Blue Jays finally score runs for Kevin Gausman?

Kevin Gausman is 32 years old.

Kevin Gausman is having one of the best seasons of his career.

His 3.03 ERA is the second-best number of his career, and his 2.45 FIP — a rate leading all big league pitchers — is the second-best number of his career.

While not leading the league, his 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings are tied with his previous career high.

Simply put, Kevin Gausman is carving up the opposition.

The only problem is that he’s also posting a 7-5 record. A .583 W-L%. His numbers above should indicate a better record for the ace, but that hasn’t come to fruition.

Why, you may ask? Well, there’s no qualified pitcher in baseball this year who is getting as little run support as Gausman is. Every nine innings, the Jays have scored just 3.03 runs per nine innings in front of him — a full two runs below the league average of 5.

The impact Gausman’s record has felt has been significant and it’s likely what’s kept him much lower on Cy Young polls than he should be. Earlier this year he wasn’t even a candidate in MLB.com polls, but has now slid into the number five spot in the AL.

While the Cy Young award is largely just a popularity contest and has been for years — especially considering that Nolan freakin’ Ryan had won it all of zero times over his 27-year career — but it doesn’t mean that Gausman shouldn’t be getting more love for what he’s doing this year.

Today, with the Jays bats lining up against the young Logan Gilbert, they’ll look to rack up some runs to help Gausman along.

First pitch: 4:10 p.m. EST

Toronto Blue Jays: 54-44, 5.5 GB, – WCGB, +37 DIFF.

Seattle Mariners: 49-48, 8.5 GB, 4.5 WCGB, +28 DIFF.

Moneyline: TOR -128; SEA +110.

TOR: Kevin Gausman RHP – 7-5, 19 GS, 115.2 IP. 3.03 ERA, 2.45 FIP, 1.133 WHIP, 11.9 SO/9, 2.3 BB/9.

SEA: Logan Gilbert RHP – 8-5, 19 GS, 113.1 IP. 3.65 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 1.006 WHIP, 8.8 SO/9, 1.6 BB/9.

Tune into the latest edition of Blue Jays Nation Radio as the crew talks about the Jays’ latest series against the San Diego Padres..

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached -by email at zach@oilersnation.com.