If Kevin Gausman could restart this year, he admits he would have started the season on the Injured List. 
The ace of the Toronto Blue Jays missed a significant part of Spring Training due to right shoulder fatigue. By the end of camp, he was making good progress and even pitched in the team&#8217;s final Grapefruit League game, throwing three innings and 52 pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton, Florida.

At that point, the Blue Jays had two options: they could either place Gausman on the IL to let him continue building up at Triple-A Buffalo, or they could have him start the season at the back of the rotation. The team chose the latter, and Gausman made his first start against the Rays in Tampa Bay during the team&#8217;s fourth game. In hindsight, he believes this was the wrong decision.
“Looking back, I could have benefited from another two weeks to get more into my five-day routine,” <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-gausman-expresses-regret-over-rushing-back-from-injury/">Gausman told Sportsnet</a>. “That’s why I’ve been inconsistent so far. The foundation I started this season on wasn’t great, and now we’re playing catch-up, trying to find that consistency. It’s tough to make adjustments on the fly once the season starts.”
Now in his third season of a five-year, $110-million contract, Gausman says he felt good physically as spring training ended. He also felt compelled to step up for the Blue Jays, whose starting rotation depth took a hit with Alek Manoah&#8217;s shoulder injury during camp.
“It was a little aggressive on our part, looking back, but my last outing in spring was really good,” said Gausman. “The last week-and-a-half before spring ended was really good — there were a lot of positives. And, honestly, we don’t have the depth that some teams do. With Manoah starting the season on the IL, we didn’t really have anyone else. That might have influenced the decision.”
Gausman’s performance over his nine starts this year has been uneven. There have been high points, like his seven-inning, one-run game against the Dodgers in late April, but also some uncharacteristically poor outings. Overall, he has a 4.89 ERA, allowing 53 hits over 42.1 innings, walking 11, and striking out 43. These stats don’t reflect the dominant pitcher he has been for the Blue Jays. From 2022 to 2023, he led all MLB pitchers with a combined 11 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs, posting a 3.25 ERA over 62 starts and 359.2 innings with 442 strikeouts.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider explained that the decision for Gausman to start the season with the team was made in consultation with him and the medical staff. 
“You make the best decision at the time with all the information you have,” Schneider said. “Was it ideal for him? No, it wasn’t ideal. One spring training outing. But he’s past the point of needing to be built up now. In Kevin’s case, he’s such a good pitcher. We weren’t going to do anything to put him in harm’s way. It was a reasonable ask for him to compete at this level with not much spring training. In retrospect, you’re okay with the decision from a health standpoint.”
Gausman says his main issue right now is his delivery. His timing mechanism, tapping his glove before starting his windup, hasn’t felt right this season. “When that’s out of whack, everything else is out of whack,” he said. “That’s why you’ve seen more inconsistency than the last two years.”
His fastball has dropped to an average of 93.8 mph from 94.7 mph last year, and his splitter has decreased to 85.3 mph from 86.3 mph. The splitter, crucial for his effectiveness, has been erratic, with a 31.6% whiff rate compared to 43.2% last season. This inconsistency affects his fastball’s effectiveness, as hitters are slugging .635 off it.
“The shape is just inconsistent,” Gausman said of his splitter. “One pitch is really good, and the next one isn’t. That pitch has been very consistent the last couple of years. Now, it’s missing more often, and those misses are not competitive. That’s been the biggest issue overall.”
Despite these struggles, Gausman has generally kept the Blue Jays in games, allowing three runs or less in six of his nine outings. He believes that he will get enough reps to realign his delivery and bring back his devastating splitter as the season progresses.
“I’m very confident I’ll get there,” Gausman said. “Hopefully sooner rather than later, for all of our sake. I just need to keep throwing my split. All it takes is one game to find it, and then you go from there.”

If Kevin Gausman could restart this year, he admits he would have started the season on the Injured List. 

The ace of the Toronto Blue Jays missed a significant part of Spring Training due to right shoulder fatigue. By the end of camp, he was making good progress and even pitched in the team's final Grapefruit League game, throwing three innings and 52 pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton, Florida.



At that point, the Blue Jays had two options: they could either place Gausman on the IL to let him continue building up at Triple-A Buffalo, or they could have him start the season at the back of the rotation. The team chose the latter, and Gausman made his first start against the Rays in Tampa Bay during the team's fourth game. In hindsight, he believes this was the wrong decision.

“Looking back, I could have benefited from another two weeks to get more into my five-day routine,” <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-gausman-expresses-regret-over-rushing-back-from-injury/">Gausman told Sportsnet</a>. “That’s why I’ve been inconsistent so far. The foundation I started this season on wasn’t great, and now we’re playing catch-up, trying to find that consistency. It’s tough to make adjustments on the fly once the season starts.”

Now in his third season of a five-year, $110-million contract, Gausman says he felt good physically as spring training ended. He also felt compelled to step up for the Blue Jays, whose starting rotation depth took a hit with Alek Manoah's shoulder injury during camp.

“It was a little aggressive on our part, looking back, but my last outing in spring was really good,” said Gausman. “The last week-and-a-half before spring ended was really good — there were a lot of positives. And, honestly, we don’t have the depth that some teams do. With Manoah starting the season on the IL, we didn’t really have anyone else. That might have influenced the decision.”

Gausman’s performance over his nine starts this year has been uneven. There have been high points, like his seven-inning, one-run game against the Dodgers in late April, but also some uncharacteristically poor outings. Overall, he has a 4.89 ERA, allowing 53 hits over 42.1 innings, walking 11, and striking out 43. These stats don’t reflect the dominant pitcher he has been for the Blue Jays. From 2022 to 2023, he led all MLB pitchers with a combined 11 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs, posting a 3.25 ERA over 62 starts and 359.2 innings with 442 strikeouts.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider explained that the decision for Gausman to start the season with the team was made in consultation with him and the medical staff. 

“You make the best decision at the time with all the information you have,” Schneider said. “Was it ideal for him? No, it wasn’t ideal. One spring training outing. But he’s past the point of needing to be built up now. In Kevin’s case, he’s such a good pitcher. We weren’t going to do anything to put him in harm’s way. It was a reasonable ask for him to compete at this level with not much spring training. In retrospect, you’re okay with the decision from a health standpoint.”

Gausman says his main issue right now is his delivery. His timing mechanism, tapping his glove before starting his windup, hasn’t felt right this season. “When that’s out of whack, everything else is out of whack,” he said. “That’s why you’ve seen more inconsistency than the last two years.”

His fastball has dropped to an average of 93.8 mph from 94.7 mph last year, and his splitter has decreased to 85.3 mph from 86.3 mph. The splitter, crucial for his effectiveness, has been erratic, with a 31.6% whiff rate compared to 43.2% last season. This inconsistency affects his fastball’s effectiveness, as hitters are slugging .635 off it.

“The shape is just inconsistent,” Gausman said of his splitter. “One pitch is really good, and the next one isn’t. That pitch has been very consistent the last couple of years. Now, it’s missing more often, and those misses are not competitive. That’s been the biggest issue overall.”

Despite these struggles, Gausman has generally kept the Blue Jays in games, allowing three runs or less in six of his nine outings. He believes that he will get enough reps to realign his delivery and bring back his devastating splitter as the season progresses.

“I’m very confident I’ll get there,” Gausman said. “Hopefully sooner rather than later, for all of our sake. I just need to keep throwing my split. All it takes is one game to find it, and then you go from there.”

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