After navigating the journeyman life for years and re-inventing himself in San Francisco, Kevin Gausman became the dependable starter for the Toronto Blue Jays the moment he signed with the team in the winter of 2021. Through all the ups and downs, the right-hander has logged 849.1 innings and 910 strikeouts for the Blue Jays over the course of five years.

It seemed that Gausman was destined to finish out his contract as a Blue Jay, but as Toronto ruminates on the possibility of trading Gausman at this trade deadline, he may end up wearing a different team’s uniform by the end of this season.

While we wait for the Blue Jays to contemplate and carry out their trade deadline plans, here are three of the 35-year-old veteran’s best starts.

The Blue Jays may have had an identity crisis in 2024, but Gausman remained solid, even in a lost season. Gausman and the Blue Jays travelled to Sacramento to face the Athletics in early June, and somehow, the right-hander found his groove in a tougher minor-league ballpark as he shut down the Athletics’ lineup.

The Blue Jays’ offensive performance certainly was a boost for Gausman as the team scored seven runs for run support. Meanwhile, Gausman himself struck out 10 batters and allowed five hits and one walk. And he didn’t allow a single run to score. That was the story of Gausman’s first-ever complete-game shutout win.

Even in the dark times, Gausman’s sharpness gave hope to the fanbase that the Blue Jays would rebound one day. With a durable starter like him in the rotation still, Toronto just had to figure out how to build a better team that could go all the way for the year after and beyond.

He was so close to allowing no hits. Instead, he allowed two hits but went all nine innings against the Houston Astros on September 11, 2025. The only thing this game required him was throwing 100 pitches and earning nine strikeouts.

Gausman’s starts seemed to get better with each outing last season, especially after enduring a tough August where he allowed 15 runs in total. The 6-0 shutout win re-established Gausman as the ace in the Blue Jays’ rotation; his bounce-back also resembled the resilience of the 2025 Blue Jays overall. With this win, the right-hander secured his second career complete game in convincing fashion.

This outing was the reason why the Blue Jays believed in the starter from the very beginning, and he was the one who would help Toronto go far beyond the regular season someday.

The burden was on the Blue Jays to prove themselves again on the big stage as the team hosted the New York Yankees for the first game of the ALDS in 2025. The Blue Jays had failed to win a playoff game since 2016 — this was the curse they had to overcome if they wanted to be taken seriously by anyone.

But the 2025 Blue Jays refused to back down, and Gausman was the right man to carry the Blue Jays through to their first-ever playoff win in nearly a decade.

This was the epitome of the 2025 Blue Jays-ian game. The Blue Jays’ batters didn’t come alive until later in the game, but their relentlessness and patience forced the Yankees to throw out six different pitchers.

On the pitching side, Gausman gave Toronto a chance to win after throwing 5.2 innings, striking out three and giving up only one run. He did get himself into a sticky situation with a bases-loaded jam but narrowly escaped it by allowing only one runner to score. This was also when he struck out mighty Aaron Judge in a key moment.

The Blue Jays’ lineup then took the game over and scored 10 runs to secure a statement win against a strong AL East rival. It was one of the finest moments in Gausman’s career and for the Blue Jays as they both defied expectations. That was also not a bad way for the Blue Jays to break their playoff curse.

Kevin Gausman wasn’t supposed to pitch in Game 7 of the ALCS and wasn’t even the starter for this decisive game. But this deserves a shoutout because Gausman came out to pitch from the bullpen to punch the ticket to the World Series. The right-hander came out to pitch one inning, and while he surrendered three walks, he managed to get out of his own jam unscathed. Turns out, that’s all the Blue Jays needed to defeat the Mariners, along with George Springer’s unforgettable come-from-behind home run that will forever be etched in Blue Jays franchise history. This was how Gausman earned his first playoff win as a reliever for Toronto.