Toronto Blue Jays ace right-hander Kevin Gausman will make his 2025 Grapefruit League debut on Wednesday versus the Pittsburgh Pirates, as the club announced Friday.

The team revealed its pitching plans for an upcoming slate of games, beginning with Saturday’s matchup against the Atlanta Braves, which will consist of a reliever-filled bullpen game. The tandem of Max Scherzer and Bowden Francis will follow on Sunday as the Philadelphia Phillies travel to TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla.

José Berríos will make his second start of the spring in Monday’s road game versus the Detroit Tigers, with Gausman making his debut against the Pirates following Tuesday’s off-day.

The 34-year-old hurler has thrown multiple batting practice sessions this spring, completing his most recent outing Thursday, tossing 30 pitches to a group that included Anthony Santander, George Springer and Daulton Varsho.

Gausman will likely be scheduled to pitch two or three innings in his first live-game appearance of the spring versus Pittsburgh. From there, the veteran righty will build up toward five innings and 75-80 pitches by the end of camp.

It’ll be crucial for the two-time All-Star to enjoy a healthy spring after fatigue in his right shoulder severely impacted his throwing progression last season. He made one abbreviated start before Opening Day but later admitted he likely should’ve begun the year on the injured list.

When asked Thursday, Gausman compared this spring to last as “night and day” in regards to how his body has felt physically thus far. Though he avoided a season-opening IL stint, the right-hander battled his mechanics for most of the 2024 campaign, struggling with the command and sharpness of his four-seamer and elite-level splitter.

That resulted in an underwhelming performance for Gausman, who pitched to a 3.83 ERA and 3.77 FIP across 31 starts, still matching his ’22 and ’23 totals. But he witnessed a dramatic decline in swing-and-miss, causing his strikeout rate to fall nearly 10 per cent from the previous season, dropping to a 21.4 clip — the lowest of his career since ’18.

The hope is that a healthy spring can springboard a return-to-form showing for the American League Cy Young finalist from two years ago.