Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman: Yields grand slam in win
Rotowire
Gausman (8-8) picked up the win Sunday against Detroit, allowing four runs on five hits and three walks across 6.2 innings. He struck out five.
All four runs against Gausman came on one swing of the bat, with Justyn-Henry Malloy launching a grand slam in the fifth inning. Two of the three baserunners aboard for Malloy's long ball reached via walk. In spite of the grand slam, Gausman came away with his second consecutive victory and completed at least six innings for the fourth time in five starts. Although the 33-year-old has been significantly less effective this season, he still owns a palatable 4.55 ERA with 109 strikeouts through 110.2 innings. Gausman is on track for a home start against the Rangers next weekend.
Gausman (7-8) picked up the win Thursday against San Francisco, allowing two runs on six hits and no walks across seven innings. He struck out three.
Both runs charged to Gausman came in the first inning when Heliot Ramos launched a two-run home run. Outside of the long ball, Gausman was able to induce enough soft contact to make it through seven innings while generating only seven whiffs. The 33-year-old entered Thursday's start with losses in four of his previous five appearances, and he allowed four or more runs three times during that stretch. However, he's logged a quality start in back-to-back outings and owns a 4.50 ERA across 104.0 innings heading into the All-Star break.
Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman: Happy with mechanical tweaks
Rotowire
Gausman tinkered with his mechanics ahead of Friday's start against the Mariners, in which he tied his season high with 10 strikeouts, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports. "I definitely had a bit of a different delivery today, and that was by design," Gausman said after the outing. "It's something we're trying to get back to what I was doing in 2021. I think it will allow me to be around the zone a little bit more."
The veteran right-hander saw his fastball average 1.4 mph more than it had this season coming into the start, while the movement on his splitter was more effective as a result of the tweaks. "I was getting way too much horizontal movement on my splitter and not enough vertical movement," Gausman said. "I haven't looked at the metrics, but I could tell that it was carrying the zone. To me, that shows the vertical was there on my splitter. Guys are going to swing more at it when it looks like it's going to be in the zone longer." Gausman, who missed much of spring training due to shoulder fatigue, has had an inconsistent beginning to the season and will carry a 4.64 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 24.0 percent strikeout rate into his next start -- numbers all well below the standard he established during his career resurgence in San Francisco in 2020-21.
