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Blue Jays: Gage Stanifer surrenders one earned run in most recent start
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Photo credit: © Nathan Ray Seebeck - Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
May 22, 2026, 12:00 EDTUpdated: May 21, 2026, 22:16 EDT
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Gage Stanifer’s run of good games continued on Thursday.
The Toronto Blue Jays’ prospect made his eighth start of the season for the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats on Thursday evening, striking out four, walking a batter, and allowing three runs, one earned, over four and two-thirds innings of work.
Stanifer’s best innings came in the early goings of this game. In the top of the first, he generated two whiffs on the first batter he faced, freezing him on a pitch at the bottom of the strike zone. After allowing a single, Stanifer struck out a second batter looking, before getting an inning-ending ground out.
In the top of the second, Benny Montgomery flew out for Stanifer’s first out of the inning, before striking out his third batter of the game. This time, he got Conner Capel swinging for the second out. After a second single, Stanifer struck out Zach Kokoska swinging to end the inning.
Both unearned runs that Stanifer gave up in this game came in the top of the third. He generated back-to-back ground ball outs, and looked as if he got a third, but Arjun Nimmala committed and error to keep the inning alive. The next batter, Bryant Betancourt, hit his third home run of the series to put the Hartford Yard Goats up 2-1.
Stanifer went three up, three down in the top of the fourth, getting two fly outs and a ground out. In his final inning, he got the first two outs, but walked the final batter he faced on a pitch that looked to catch the outside part of the plate. That runner came in to score after Kai Peterson surrendered a double.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad start for Stanifer. The one walk issued is the second-fewest he’s allowed in a start this season. However, his four strikeouts are tied for the second-fewest of the season. His stuff wasn’t as sharp in the third and fourth innings either. Through two, Stanifer generated seven swings and misses on 16 total swings.
Then in the third and fourth, Stanifer generated just one whiff on 15 total swings. The righty got back on track in the fifth inning, generating two whiffs on six total swings. That gave him a 27 whiff %, not his best outing in terms of his stuff, but an encouraging trend nonetheless.
Since his first two starts where he gave up 10 earned runs over six and one-third innings, Stanifer has pitched terrifically. In his last six starts, Stanifer’s ERA has now dropped to 2.67, giving up eight earned runs in his last 27 innings. On top of that Stanifer has a 27.6 K%.
There are two concerning trends over these last six starts. For starters, his BB% is still high, sitting at 14.7%. The other main concern is that Stanifer has given up five unearned runs. Getting out of jams is something he’ll need to work on before he’s eventually promoted to Triple-A.
Still, this was an encouraging start for the 22-year-old.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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