Kevin

Gausman

Gausman departs Toronto with just a couple of months to go on the five-year, $110 million contract he signed as a free agent prior to the 2022 season. He’s posted a 4.38 ERA this season, but his strikeout rate has held steady at 23.5 percent and he has a 3.85 xERA and a 3.95 SIERA. He’s also about as reliable as pitchers come, which is pretty important given the state of the Cubs rotation. Colin Rea could get bumped to the pen to make room for him. The Jays will likely replace him with Jameson Taillon, who they acquired from the Cubs in a separate deal earlier in the day.

Is it too late to fold this into the Jameson Taillon trade? The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon says the Jays will get outfielder Brett Bateman and infielder Ty Southisene in return. Gausman was 6-10 with a 4.38 ERA in a down year for the Jays, but he’s durable and could step it up in October, like he did in posting a 2.93 ERA in five starts and one relief appearance during last year’s World Series run. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end.

A strong trade candidate, Gausman got a big ovation from the Toronto crowd as he walked off the field for what could be his final start for the Jays. But, then, even if he is traded, it’s easy to imagine the Blue Jays looking to bring him back in free agency this winter. The win made Gausman 5-10 with a 4.38 ERA. He’ll likely pitch in Philly on Friday if he stays put.

This makes plenty of sense. The Phillies need another starter for the rotation and potentially another outfield bat as well. The Blue Jays could send any combination of Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, George Springer, and Daulton Varsho. The Phillies may also be interested in Jeff Hoffman for the bullpen. Would the Blue Jays want to take a chance that they can “fix” Andrew Painter? There is still time to go here and nothing imminent, but it seems like a pairing that makes sense.

Gausman struck out six, walked one, and allowed five hits. He kept Toronto in the game, but they were ultimately held to one run and remain the lowest-scoring lineup in MLB. The 35-year-old is sporting his worst ERA since 2019, but it comes with a 66 percent left-on-base rate, which is inside the top five for qualified starters and suggests a bit of bad luck. His next start lines up at home against the Cardinals.

This was a forgettable outing for Gausman, as the Rays executed a death by a thousand paper cuts approach, piling up nine hits against him with only one going for extra bases. He recorded just one strikeout while issuing two walks in his second-shortest outing of the season. The 35-year-old veteran has hit a rough patch, allowing at least four earned runs in four of his last six starts dating back to June 19. He’ll attempt to rebound with a tough road matchup against the sizzling-hot Red Sox on Sunday.

The runs all came in the second. The last scored on a balk after Gausman failed to disclose whether he’d be pitching from the windup or the stretch with the bases loaded. Overall, it was an encouraging outing. Six days after averaging just 92.5 mph with his fastball against the Giants, Gausman came in at a season-high 95.1 mph today and struck out eight. But it’s probably best not to read much into it; his velocity has always fluctuated more than that of other starting pitchers. He ends the first half 4-8 with a 4.33 ERA and a 116/32 K/BB in 112 1/3 innings, and he’ll probably face the White Sox next weekend.

He did strike out eight, at least. Gausman had walked just 24 batters in 18 starts coming into tonight, but he does typically have one start per year in which he walks five. He did so once last year and once in 2024. He did it twice in 2023, but that was just keeping pace after he went without one in 2022. This goes as Gausman’s fifth straight loss. Part of that is the Jays’ offensive struggles, but Gausman’s weaker outings have been particularly weak; in his last 11 starts, he’s allowed one or no runs five times and at least four runs in the remaining six outings. He’ll face the Padres on Sunday.

This is the fifth time Gausman has allowed exactly one run this year, but he’s won just one of those starts. He’s definitely had his share of bad outings, too, which is why his ERA is sitting at 4.19, but the Jays just aren’t giving him any margin for error. He’ll face the Giants next.

The 35-year-old righty struck out four batters in the ballgame while issuing a pair of free passes. All of the damage done against him came via the long ball, as Joc Pederson swatted a leadoff homer, then Wyatt Langford belted a three-run shot and Jake Burger added a two-run blast in the third inning. Gausman got 11 whiffs on 99 pitches in the contest, posting an underwhelming CSW of 24 percent. He’ll try to right the ship as he carries a 4.36 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and a 93/22 K/BB ratio (95 innings) into Tuesday’s matchup against the Mets.