<p>While there&#8217;s still work to be done to cement the<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/"> Blue Jays</a>&#8216; place in this year&#8217;s postseason, you can&#8217;t blame fans for thinking ahead to the next playoff opportunity for Canada&#8217;s only MLB team.</p>
<p></p>
<p>One of the popular topics of discussion on social media lately has been the <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-projecting-torontos-three-man-postseason-rotation">pecking order of the starting rotation</a>, and more specifically, who should be taking the mound if/once the Blue Jays are in the playoffs. With just 16 regular-season games remaining, I&#8217;m sure the performance of the veteran group down the stretch will be strongly monitored and considered. That said, if the season ended today, I would strongly advocate for Kevin Gausman to be on the bump for Game 1.</p>
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<p>It&#8217;s been a fun debate among fans over the last month or so, and it feels like the answer has been a moving target. We&#8217;ve seen very strong performances from each of Shane Bieber, Max Scherzer, Jose Berrios, and Chris Bassitt, but we&#8217;ve also seen some battles for each of them as well. The same thing could be said for Gausman, who looked like he might even be entering a new phase of his career when he was struggling in June, but the 34-year-old proved that he&#8217;s still got some prime production left in that right arm of his with his performance since the calendar flipped to July.</p>
<p>The 2x All-Star was trending downward to the tune of a 5.46 ERA over five June starts, struggling to maintain the velocity that has helped him enter the elite tier of starting pitchers in baseball for the last number of years, and making a big difference in his overall production.</p>
<p>Lately, <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-gdb-145-kevin-gausman-looking-to-play-hero-after-last-nights-loss-to-astros">Gausman has been re-energized</a>, and the version that pitched against the Astros on Thursday might be as good as we&#8217;ve ever seen him in a Blue Jays uniform. The Astros aren&#8217;t what they used to be on the offensive side of the ball, but they still have a lineup that features Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Jeremy Pena, and more, and they&#8217;re still the leader in the AL West as of this writing, although the Mariners are nipping at their heels. Regardless, they&#8217;re one of the better teams in baseball this year, and they&#8217;ll be a potential opponent in the playoffs for the Jays, so this wasn&#8217;t exactly easy competition. Thursday&#8217;s game mattered very much to the Astros, and they couldn&#8217;t muster any more than two hits and a walk over nine shutout innings from Gausman.</p>
<p>Over his last seven starts in particular, the right-hander has posted a 2.02 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP, averaging 7.0 innings per outing. He&#8217;s also struck out 44 batters against just eight walks over those 49.0 innings pitched, and he hasn&#8217;t had it easy recently either, with his last three starts coming against the Astros, Yankees, and Brewers. Not only has he been effective, but he&#8217;s performed exactly as John Schneider has needed him to, going deep into games and giving the battered bullpen as much rest as he can. He&#8217;s covered 6.0 innings or more in nine of his last ten outings, and has been even better over his last three, averaging 8.0 frames per start. His ability to cover a ton of innings, and at an elite clip, is a key reason the Blue Jays still hold the lead in the AL East these days.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kevin Gausman Today: </p>
<p>79 strikes on 100 pitches &#8211; the highest strike rate in a complete game shutout in BLUE JAYS HISTORY! <a href="https://t.co/bqtqwlX4pe">pic.twitter.com/bqtqwlX4pe</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1966328392711831890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>I understand the argument for Bieber or Scherzer, given their status and experience at the top of playoff rotations. That said, each of the veteran righties has had some bumps in the road recently.</p>
<p>In Bieber&#8217;s case, it&#8217;s understandable as he&#8217;s only made four starts since returning from missing more than a year after Tommy John surgery. For Scherzer he&#8217;s dealt with a minor back issue that resulted in one start being pushed back, and <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/missed-opportunities-hurt-blue-jays-in-finale-as-yankees-close-gap-in-al-east/">may have been tipping his pitches</a> in a recent outing against the Yankees. I don&#8217;t know that many are advocating for Berrios or Bassitt to be the Game 1 playoff starter at this point, but the former looked pretty strong this week in his most recent start, and has an opportunity to change our minds as the Jays try to close out the regular season on a high note.</p>
<p>With a veteran group that has five (or six if you include Eric Lauer) solid starting pitchers available, there can be more than one good answer to the question, and the whole picture could look different once 16 more games have been played and we&#8217;ve watched how each of them performs down the stretch. Recent performance should matter, and I get the sense that the Blue Jays will strongly consider it as they line up their playoff rotation. They have to get there first, and that will be the immediate priority, and I&#8217;m sure they&#8217;ll also want to secure a first-round bye if they can finish with one of the top two AL records, a position they currently hold. However, if they can secure the playoff position they need, then hopefully Schneider will be able to line up his starters the way the coaching staff sees fit, and that first-round bye would go a long way to helping them do that.</p>
<p>If the decision were up to me, then I would be handing the ball to Gausman, which isn&#8217;t something I expected when I first started thinking about this back in early July. He&#8217;s reminded us all that he&#8217;s still capable of dominating a game and taking down even the best of lineups in baseball, and he&#8217;s ramping up at just the right time. If he keeps up his recent level of production over his last few outings, frankly, and with all due respect to Bieber, Scherzer, and the rest, I don&#8217;t know how there&#8217;s any other choice.</p>
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While there's still work to be done to cement the<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/"> Blue Jays</a>' place in this year's postseason, you can't blame fans for thinking ahead to the next playoff opportunity for Canada's only MLB team.



One of the popular topics of discussion on social media lately has been the <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-projecting-torontos-three-man-postseason-rotation">pecking order of the starting rotation</a>, and more specifically, who should be taking the mound if/once the Blue Jays are in the playoffs. With just 16 regular-season games remaining, I'm sure the performance of the veteran group down the stretch will be strongly monitored and considered. That said, if the season ended today, I would strongly advocate for Kevin Gausman to be on the bump for Game 1.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="330" data-promotion-id="18983" data-context="“web-content-promocard&quot;"></div>
It's been a fun debate among fans over the last month or so, and it feels like the answer has been a moving target. We've seen very strong performances from each of Shane Bieber, Max Scherzer, Jose Berrios, and Chris Bassitt, but we've also seen some battles for each of them as well. The same thing could be said for Gausman, who looked like he might even be entering a new phase of his career when he was struggling in June, but the 34-year-old proved that he's still got some prime production left in that right arm of his with his performance since the calendar flipped to July.

The 2x All-Star was trending downward to the tune of a 5.46 ERA over five June starts, struggling to maintain the velocity that has helped him enter the elite tier of starting pitchers in baseball for the last number of years, and making a big difference in his overall production.

Lately, <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-gdb-145-kevin-gausman-looking-to-play-hero-after-last-nights-loss-to-astros">Gausman has been re-energized</a>, and the version that pitched against the Astros on Thursday might be as good as we've ever seen him in a Blue Jays uniform. The Astros aren't what they used to be on the offensive side of the ball, but they still have a lineup that features Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Jeremy Pena, and more, and they're still the leader in the AL West as of this writing, although the Mariners are nipping at their heels. Regardless, they're one of the better teams in baseball this year, and they'll be a potential opponent in the playoffs for the Jays, so this wasn't exactly easy competition. Thursday's game mattered very much to the Astros, and they couldn't muster any more than two hits and a walk over nine shutout innings from Gausman.

Over his last seven starts in particular, the right-hander has posted a 2.02 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP, averaging 7.0 innings per outing. He's also struck out 44 batters against just eight walks over those 49.0 innings pitched, and he hasn't had it easy recently either, with his last three starts coming against the Astros, Yankees, and Brewers. Not only has he been effective, but he's performed exactly as John Schneider has needed him to, going deep into games and giving the battered bullpen as much rest as he can. He's covered 6.0 innings or more in nine of his last ten outings, and has been even better over his last three, averaging 8.0 frames per start. His ability to cover a ton of innings, and at an elite clip, is a key reason the Blue Jays still hold the lead in the AL East these days.

https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1966328392711831890

I understand the argument for Bieber or Scherzer, given their status and experience at the top of playoff rotations. That said, each of the veteran righties has had some bumps in the road recently.

In Bieber's case, it's understandable as he's only made four starts since returning from missing more than a year after Tommy John surgery. For Scherzer he's dealt with a minor back issue that resulted in one start being pushed back, and <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/missed-opportunities-hurt-blue-jays-in-finale-as-yankees-close-gap-in-al-east/">may have been tipping his pitches</a> in a recent outing against the Yankees. I don't know that many are advocating for Berrios or Bassitt to be the Game 1 playoff starter at this point, but the former looked pretty strong this week in his most recent start, and has an opportunity to change our minds as the Jays try to close out the regular season on a high note.

With a veteran group that has five (or six if you include Eric Lauer) solid starting pitchers available, there can be more than one good answer to the question, and the whole picture could look different once 16 more games have been played and we've watched how each of them performs down the stretch. Recent performance should matter, and I get the sense that the Blue Jays will strongly consider it as they line up their playoff rotation. They have to get there first, and that will be the immediate priority, and I'm sure they'll also want to secure a first-round bye if they can finish with one of the top two AL records, a position they currently hold. However, if they can secure the playoff position they need, then hopefully Schneider will be able to line up his starters the way the coaching staff sees fit, and that first-round bye would go a long way to helping them do that.

If the decision were up to me, then I would be handing the ball to Gausman, which isn't something I expected when I first started thinking about this back in early July. He's reminded us all that he's still capable of dominating a game and taking down even the best of lineups in baseball, and he's ramping up at just the right time. If he keeps up his recent level of production over his last few outings, frankly, and with all due respect to Bieber, Scherzer, and the rest, I don't know how there's any other choice.

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Gausman has pitched himself into being the Blue Jays’ Game 1 starter

Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter George Springer (4) scores after a wild pitch in the fourth inning against the Seattle Mariners during game four of the ALCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at T-Mobile Park.

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