On Kevin Gausman's slider, changeup, and the sequencing and situations that make the Blue Jays starter so deadly.
On top of a splitter decoy, Gausman also has the change in his pocket for a needed ground ball. In his first few years, the splitter was garnering a lot of uncompetitive takes, with hitters recognizing the pitch out of hand and watching it fall below the zone. Even with the chess pieces moving in his head, Gausman doesn't fall asleep dreaming of trickery and pitch sequencing. The break of the slider adds the perfect complement for Gausman, he said, setting up for a later splitter and muddying the mind of the batter. When he has a left-handed batter contemplating if it’s the splitter diving away or the backdoor slider, that’s when Gausman really has the upper hand. With a few dotted changes, Gausman has hitters heading back to the dugout telling teammates the righty just doesn't have the nasty split that day. "It's not a high percentage pitch," Gausman said of his change. "I can pretty much gauge early on in the game what it's going to be like," Gausman said. Gausman has thrown five or six different breaking balls during his time in the big leagues, and his current variation is a gyro-slider he learned with the Giants last year, one that travels deep in on the batter before taking a late left turn. Robinson Cano used to have one, Gausman said, as the time he took to step up to the plate was a direct indicator of what he was looking to do first pitch. If he stepped up quick, Cano was taking, if he moseyed into the box, it was a first-pitch swing. On the mound, Gausman isn’t concerned about a tree getting in the way of his shot or unpredictable pawn play, it’s just him and the hitter.
TORONTO -- Kevin Gausman's first impression has gone from good, to great, to historic. The right-hander pitched brilliantly again in Sunday's 3-2 win over ...
“We all knew and talked about it all spring, that it was going to be a challenge out of the gates,” Gausman said. “Obviously, this is cool, but I’ve got another start in five days,” Gausman said with a smile. Hitters know that Gausman will throw his fastball in the zone and his splitter low, but that information doesn’t seem to be helping them. The accomplishment isn’t lost on the 31-year-old Gausman, who’s now in his 10th MLB season with his fifth organization. We’ve had a chance to win every single day, and we have to feel good about that.” With seven consecutive undefeated series, tying a franchise record set in their World Series season of 1992, the Blue Jays are already getting a taste of playoff baseball in April and May. Gausman has faced 122 batters this year without issuing a single free pass -- a Blue Jays record to open a season -- and he’s doing all of this with an approach that isn’t exactly subtle.\n\nHitters know that Gausman will throw his fastball in the zone and his splitter low, but that information doesn’t seem to be helping them. Just like Robbie Ray in 2021, with his fastball and slider, Gausman is trusting that his best is better than the hitter’s best.\n\nSpoiler alert: It is.\n\n“It’s not like I’m out there trying not to walk guys,” Gausman said. With seven consecutive undefeated series, tying a franchise record set in their World Series season of 1992, the Blue Jays are already getting a taste of playoff baseball in April and May.","type":"markdown","__typename":"Markdown"},"$ROOT_QUERY.getForgeContentBySlug({\"locale\":\"en-us\",\"slug\":\"kevin-gausman-joins-cy-young-after-historic-start-to-2022\",\"type\":\"story\"}).parts.6":{"contentDate":"2022-05-01T19:30:32.537Z","description":"Bo Bichette gives the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 6th inning with an opposite-field two-run home run to right 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News","__typename":"Tag"},"$ROOT_QUERY.getForgeContentBySlug({\"locale\":\"en-us\",\"slug\":\"kevin-gausman-joins-cy-young-after-historic-start-to-2022\",\"type\":\"story\"}).parts.6.tags.15":{"slug":"international-feed","title":"International Partner feed","__typename":"Tag"},"$ROOT_QUERY.getForgeContentBySlug({\"locale\":\"en-us\",\"slug\":\"kevin-gausman-joins-cy-young-after-historic-start-to-2022\",\"type\":\"story\"}).parts.7":{"content":"“We all knew and talked about it all spring, that it was going to be a challenge out of the gates,” Gausman said. The Blue Jays knew they were getting a talented pitcher when they handed Gausman a five-year, $110 million deal in free agency this past winter, but he’s exceeding every expectation five starts in, pitching like one of baseball’s very best. The more that I can get ahead, I know I’m not going to throw that many balls or throw five balls in a row. In 31 2/3 innings this season, Gausman has yet to allow a single walk or home run.
Gausman first pitcher since Cy Young to start season without allowing walk or home run in first five starts.
The Blue Jays closer then got pinch-hitter Alex Bregman to line out to a diving George Springer in right field. “This game wasn’t the last game of the season. Espinal hit a single to deep left field with Alvarez coming up firing as Matt Chapman rounded third. Toronto has won six series and tied another to start the 2022 season. Phil Maton and Héctor Neris pitched two innings of relief. Sunday’s win made Gausman the only pitcher since Cy Young (1906) to begin a season with five straight starts and a minimum of 20 innings pitched without allowing a walk or home run.
TORONTO — It may only be the second month of the season, but Kevin Gausman felt like he had to put in a playoff-calibre performance Sunday.
The Blue Jays closer then got pinch-hitter Alex Bregman to line out to a diving George Springer in right field. BOUNCE BACK — The Blue Jays have not lost back-to-back games since Sept. 24. Jordan Montgomery (0-1) will get the start for the Yankees. New York sits atop the AL East standings after one month, with Toronto second. Toronto has won six series and tied another to start the 2022 season. Sunday's win made Gausman the only pitcher since Cy Young (1906) to begin a season with five straight starts and a minimum of 20 innings pitched without allowing a walk or home run. So, on to the next one."
The season is young, but so far is looks like the Blue Jays made a wise decision by signing Kevin Gausman, who pitched at an ace level so far in 2022.
The rotation has been a mixed bag, but Gausman has been a well-needed veteran anchor. All of the numbers I’ve already mentioned are encouraging enough, but the most impressive part is that Gausman has done all of this without walking a single batter. There were mixed reactions from Blue Jays fans when Gausman signed in Toronto, mostly because of the circumstances around his deal.
The Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman is in rare air with his start to the 2022 MLB season.
This year, he has a first-strike percentage of 73.7, best in baseball ahead of Nathan Eovaldi. When working in 0-1 counts, Gausman's splitter becomes even more deadly as batters have to protect. The splitter is the key, but it doesn't work without pinpoint control of his fastball. Gausman is the first pitcher in MLB history to log 30-plus strikeouts, no walks and no home runs over the course of a month (although it's worth noting that the season began a week late because of the owners' lockout). With the Giants last season Gausman induced a chase percentage of 32.7; this year, he's at 53.2 percent. A big part of that success has been offseason acquisition Kevin Gausman, who has ridden a devastating spilt-finger fastball to early-season success. The Blue Jays have been living up to the hype at the start of the 2022 MLB season.
The Blue Jays avoided a Framber Valdez no-hitter as Kevin Gausman twirled his latest great start.
Rogers Centre exploded on the catch and popped a few moments later as Romano struck out Peña to finish the ballgame. The streak came inches from ending as Chas McCormick jumped on a second-straight Gausman fastball in the sixth, punishing the pitch into deep right field. With the ball destined for outfield grass, Astros’ rookie Jeremy Peña jumped up, snatching the hit out of the air and robbing Bichette of a deserved hit. Gausman spun in place on the mound after blowing a 97 MPH heater by Martin Maldonado in the seventh inning. Finishing Sunday's start without a walk or homer allowed, Gausman joined Cy Young as the only pitcher to not allow either outcome in his first five starts since 1903, per MLB Stats. The ball Bichette pushed over the right-field wall had an expected batting average of .320 and wasn’t even a truly barrelled hit.
The Toronto Blue Jays were hopeful that Kevin Gausman would be the ace they were hoping for. His historic April shows they may have been right.
He and Alek Manoah have been the 1-2 punch that Toronto has needed, with the veteran Gausman appearing as though he can replicate that All Star showing from last year. Adding Yusei Kikuchi and having Jose Berrios locked in to a seven year deal only made the Blue Jays more formidable on paper. The Blue Jays had high hopes coming into the 2022 season.
Kevin Gausman struck out 10 in seven innings, Santiago Espinal hit the go-ahead single in the seventh and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the visiting ...
Garcia was 3-for-5, scored a run and drove in four to help the Rangers win their second three-game series of the year. He worked five innings and gave up two runs on four hits and three walks while matching his season high with six strikeouts. Oakland starter James Kaprielian (0-1) struggled in his season debut, yielding four runs on three hits over two-plus innings. The losing pitcher was Kyle Muller (0-1), who was wild in his 2 2/3 innings and allowed seven runs on four hits, six walks and three strikeouts. Arenado added his sixth home run of the season with two outs. Bader greeted Middleton with his first home run of the season, scoring DeJong to give St. Louis a 6-5 lead. Bo Bichette hit a two-run home run in support of Gausman (2-1), who allowed two runs on six hits with no walks. Entering the ninth inning with a shutout intact, Lorenzen allowed three hits, the last a two-run double off the bat of Leury Garcia, before Raisel Iglesias yielded two more runs. Buxton, Trevor Larnach and Gilberto Celestino each had two hits as the Central Division-leading Twins won for the ninth time in their last 10 games. Stroman (1-3), who entered the day with a 6.98 ERA, walked one and fanned five. Logan Gilbert (4-0), who started the day leading the American League in ERA, earned the win. Kyle Isbel scored Kansas City's other run on a throwing error by Josh Donaldson in the fourth.
Gausman joins Young as the only big-leaguers not to allow a walk or a homer in the first five starts of a season.
He was the ace of the 107-win San Francisco Giants last season, a team that got bounced in the first round of the playoffs. The Astros had their chance to tie the game in the ninth inning, only to have it stolen by an old friend. Bo Bichette followed by taking care of the no-hitter, the shutout and the Houston lead with a two-run homer the other way. Springer hauled it in with a sensational diving catch, going full Superman on the warning track to take away what would have been a game-tying double. Even if the comparison of Molitor replacing Winfield to Gausman replacing Ray is apt, the current Jays aren’t looking to defend a championship, they’re trying to get into the post-season after missing out by one game last year. So onto the next one.” He got to a three-ball count once, striking out Yordan Álvarez on a filthy 3-2 splitter in the second inning. It’s really impressive what he’s doing, he’s an ace in every sense of the word.” Obviously this (series win) is not the end goal for us, but I think it’s a good measuring stick.” While the Jays still feel the impact of just missing the post-season last year, Gausman is dealing with something similar. We’re only a month into this season but, after another spectacular performance by Gausman in a 3-2 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday, there appear to be parallels. “It’s been special, from his first start” Jays closer Jordan Romano said after he closed the books on Gausman’s second win of the season.