Blue Jays Performance Review: Kevin Gausman was MONEY on Sunday

On a rainy Toronto day, the Blue Jays took the field for some good Sunday day-time baseball at the Rogers Center, facing off against the .500 Houston Astro’s.  The Blue Jays sent the ace-arm Kevin Gausman to the mound, and he displayed excellence in this outing.

The Blue Jays picked up a 3-2 win, after a strong pitcher’s duel. Gausman threw 7.0 elite innings, only giving up two runs on six hits, striking out 10 Astros’ hitters. The two earned runs came in the 6th and 7th inning. Gausman was dealing!

His fluency and consistent delivery was quite comparable to a Roy Halladay start; he kept a well-paced tempo, and attacked each count to stay ahead, throwing five innings of shutout baseball. What’s most impressive here? Through 31.2 innings, Gausman has not let up a long-ball, nor any free bases yet in 2022. He’s only surrendered nine runs on 31 hits; eight of those runs being earned over five starts.

Blue Jays, Gausman Scouting Notes (2022.05.01 vs Houston Astros)

Kevin Gausman pounded the zone with all efforts on Sunday. He started at-bats with first pitch strikes, and worked right in the zone. He threw 72% strikes in 7.0 innings; 98 total pitches with 71 being strikes. His fastball command was key; his ability to locate that fastball in and out at the knees was crucial. Nothing was left high in danger zone (for the most part).  The fastball sat mid-late 90s, topping at 97mph, with good tailing action.

His bread and butter was served in the form of a filthy splitter. A disgusting off-speed weapon where the bottom fell off with late break, and differed between 8-11 mph less than his average fastball velocity.  The splitter coasted between 86-88 mph, and was used chronologically to start and end at-bats. This pitch was worked low and away to right-handed batters, and worked inside and outside to lefties.

Gausman and Alejandro Kirk were right on the same page today with the pitch selections and set up at the plate.  This battery can be one to expect for future Gausman starts. The 110 million dollar arm threw a MONEY outing on Sunday!