Given their sub, the Toronto Blue Jays may have fallen short of expectations this season – authoring a .500 ERA and sitting in the basement of the AL East. While fingers can be pointed at quite a few players and office perosnale for the team’s shortcomings this season, one bright area on the roster has been the starting rotation.

Bowden Francis has been unstoppable since the trade deadline and José Berríos has continued to be his dependable self. Yariel Rodríguez and Chris Bassitt helped keep things afloat when the bullpen was struggling; although to mixed results at times. The rotation has posted a collective 3.87 ERA through 852 2/3 innings and has compiled a 1.22 WHIP – sitting tenth and alongside a host of other squads such as the Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, and Atlanta Braves.

Rounding out the group was right-hander Kevin Gausman, who struggled out of the gate this season while dealing with a shoulder injury that likely should have seen him hit the injured list. Nevertheless, he persevered and still went on to make 31 starts this season and compiled 181 innings.

Looking further into the numbers, you will find that Gausman started to turn things around as the season continued to wear on and was finding the form that fans saw last season when he finished third in AL Cy Young voting.

Gausman made his 16th start on June 25th and from then on, the veteran starter amassed a 3.50 ERA and a 3.81 FIP and struck out 83 batters through 100 1/3 innings. When he started, the Jays won 11 of those games (68.75%) and he held opponents to a .215 batting average and a .632 OPS with nine home runs allowed during the sample size.

In his 21st game of the season, the former Baltimore Orioles and San Franciso Giant went nine innings – allowing just three earned runs and earning the complete game win against the Texas Rangers. This was his second complete game of the year (more on that later).

Diving a bit further into the latter half of the campaign, from August 2nd onwards (ten starts), his ERA dropped to 2.64 and his FIP improved 14 points to the 3.67 mark.

Opponents produced a .247 BAbip and a .606 OPS through the last two months of the 2024 campaign and he allowed just 18 earned runs through 61 1/3 innings of work. Gausman went five or more innings and allowed three or fewer runs in all but one start down the stretch – hitting the eighth-inning mark against Baltimore and going seven or more innings on multiple occasions.

To be a devil’s advocate, the first 15 games of the season for Gausman were a bit of a different story.

The FIP was still solid at 3.72 (and better than his second-half total) but he allowed 38 earned runs through 80 2/3 innings – which is one fewer earned run compared to his second-half while pitching almost 20 fewer innings (although there is one extra game added on given the odd number of total starts). He allowed five or more earned runs in four starts compared to

Gausman was able to keep the walks in check (19) but opponents were finding ways to get on base to the tune of a .266 average and a .755 OPS – 123 points higher than his last 16 games to finish the season. The club went 7-8 when he was on the mound, although he lacked run support on a few different occasions.

Ironically, while Gausman fared better in the latter half of the year, his best start came within the other sample size – his 13th outing of the year on June 8th against the Oakland A’s. The 33-year-old hurled a complete game shutout at the Oakland Coliseum, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out ten batters, which tied his season-high total (he did this four times this campaign).

The last pitcher to complete the feat was Chris Bassitt last year when he pitched a gem against the Atlanta Braves at the Rogers Centre.

Through three years with the Blue Jays, Gausman owns a .345 ERA through 93 starts and 540 2/3 innings – ranking fourth among Toronto starters (min .500 innings). He also sits second in franchise history with his 10.05 K/9 (first among starters though) and ranks first in K/BB at 4.345.

It took a couple of seasons for the Jays to sign Gausman but so far, the right-hander has been worth every penny of his five-year deal.