DUNEDIN, Fla. — There are limits to what a simulated game on a back field can feasibly replicate compared to the real thing. There was a mound for Kevin Gausman to stand on, a ball for him to throw and a batter for him to face (but even those were his own teammates, which is a mental lift for a starter and something Gausman admitted he doesn’t like to do).
So even with a dozen of his Toronto Blue Jays teammates and a handful of media members intently watching from the bleachers, Gausman’s two-inning outing on Field 2 at the Blue Jays’ player development complex lacked a certain energy.
“There wasn’t much of an atmosphere out here, unfortunately,” Gausman quipped.
Indeed, Gausman’s outing was low-key in nature, but important in practice. Slowed by right shoulder fatigue that’s sidelined him from Grapefruit League action and put the start of his season in doubt, the 33-year-old starter made steady progress in his recovery on Wednesday. Even more importantly, Gausman reported feeling good afterward and is scheduled to make his Grapefruit League debut on Monday.
“As a starter, obviously the up-downs are a big part of it,” Gausman said, referring to the common pitching parlance of pitching then sitting between innings. “To get back out there and feel pretty good and still throwing strikes is a good sign.”
The Blue Jays have been hit by a handful of injuries to key pitchers this spring, including Alek Manoah, Jordan Romano and Erik Swanson. But in terms of projected fWAR, no pitcher on their roster carries as much impact as Gausman.
For the past three seasons, Gausman has been one of the best pitchers in baseball, averaging a 3.10 ERA and 29.6 percent strikeout rate. Last year, the right-hander led Toronto’s rotation with a 3.16 ERA in 31 starts and finished third in the AL Cy Young voting.
Had it not been for this setback putting him behind schedule, Gausman likely would have been the team’s Opening Day starter, an honour that instead went to José Berríos, who’s earned it with a strong spring showing.
But spring is when teams proceed with caution, especially with an arm as important as Gausman’s. The downtime appears to have paid off, too. The arm fatigue Gausman had been feeling earlier in camp is “pretty much gone,” he said and he’s confident he can continue building his workload from here.
“It’s unfortunate. I never want to go into a spring and have something happen to where it changes your schedule, but that’s the reality of the business that we do,” Gausman said. “Throwing a baseball for a living, there’s going to be times where your arm’s going to tell you, ‘I need a little break’ and so better listen to it now than try to push it and something happens.”
On Field 2 around 11 on Wednesday, Gausman faced Santiago Espinal, Cavan Biggio and Bo Bichette over two simulated innings. He threw 36 pitches total and was pleased overall with his outing — even if Bichette did manage a hit off him.
“I don’t like facing my own guys, but I like talking to them after,” Gausman said. “They can tell you some things that they might see. Things that you’re trying to do against them. They obviously know my strengths pretty well. They watch me pitch every five days. But it’s fun. I’ve already started talking crap to Bo. He got a hit off me, but I got him out his next at-bat. … (A) .500 average. It’s not great on my end, but one-for-two ain’t bad.”
Even if Gausman was keeping score, the results didn’t matter. The Blue Jays will just be pleased with Gausman’s progression. Now, the next step will be getting him into a real spring training game, scheduled to be on Monday, when the Blue Jays play their final Grapefruit League contest against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton, Fla. By then, Gausman hopes to throw 60 or 65 pitches across three innings, he said. From there, though, the Blue Jays will have to make a decision.
Once the season begins on March 28, Gausman could stay back at the complex and continue to build up his workload in extended spring training. The other option is for Gausman to start the season with the Blue Jays, but be on a strict pitch limit during his first few outings while he continues to build up his innings.
Without getting into specific details, Gausman said he has “two options,” for how he’ll proceed, but which one he takes “all depends on how Monday goes, to be honest.” Though he said he would like to at least hit the 75-pitch barrier before beginning his regular season.
“As a starter, the biggest thing is getting (through) the up-downs. You want to get used to sitting down and getting up five, six, seven times,” Gausman said. “Once the season starts, obviously, it’s going to be a little bit difficult. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, but I think as of right now, it’s get to Monday and then get through Monday and then we’ll figure that out.”
While Gausman’s arm seems to be in a healthy place now, and he understood the rationale for being cautious these past several weeks, it’s also been a frustrating experience to go through.
“I have more innings than anybody in there, so these are things that are going to happen. It’s unfortunate when they do, but there’s not that big of a difference between making 32 starts and 34 in the big scheme of things,” he said. “Now if we get to the last week (of the season) and really wish that we would have won a couple more games, then things would maybe be a little bit different. But as of right now, it’s more so getting me right, make sure that I’m going to be trending up going into the season as opposed to just monitoring things and getting through starts.”
With it looking increasingly likely that Manoah, who is dealing with right shoulder soreness, will not begin the season with the Blue Jays, Bowden Francis is poised to earn a rotation job. If Gausman also can’t begin the season on time, the Blue Jays will need to reach even further into their pantry of extra pitchers. Mitch White or Wes Parsons are the most likely candidates to step in for Gausman, who said he’s confident in the depth behind him.
“As you saw last year, our pitching staff was one of the best in baseball and the young guys that needed to kind of make that jump have,” Gausman said. “They’ve shown they’re just a lot more professional in the way they go about their business and I feel confident that if Bowden needs to cover me for a couple of starts, I feel pretty confident with him or Mitch White. Wes Parsons, same thing. We’re at a luxury of having a lot of options.”
The hope remains that even if the Blue Jays are dipping into their depth, it won’t be for long. And Wednesday’s outing, even if it lacked atmosphere, was a step in the right direction for Gausman and the Blue Jays.
“Not much like a game, but we’re just trying to get up-downs,” Gausman said. “So, it was good.”
(Photo of Gausman: Kim Klement Neitzel / USA Today)
