Gausman isn't dealing with an injury and will pitch in a minor-league game Sunday, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports.
Gausman was originally scheduled to pitch Saturday against the Tigers, but it looks like the Blue Jays simply altered their plans. He could have pitched in a Grapefruit League game against the Yankees on Sunday, but he'll face minor-leaguers instead to give the Yankees' big-league bats fewer reps against him.
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Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman: Not starting Saturday
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Gausman was scratched from his scheduled spring start Saturday against the Tigers for undisclosed reasons, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.
Sem Robberse will start the game in Gausman's place. It's possible this was nothing more than a change of plans from the Blue Jays, as there have yet to be reports that Gausman is dealing with any sort of injury, but it's at minimum something to monitor.
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Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman: Dominates Bucs on Wednesday
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Gausman allowed two hits and two walks over 3.1 scoreless innings while striking out seven in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Pirates.
The veteran righty fired 43 of 65 pitches for strikes as he continues to gear up ahead of Opening Day. Gausman has yet to give up an earned run this spring while posting a 12:3 K:BB through 8.2 innings, and the tweaks he made this offseason to his mechanics to avoid running afoul of MLB's balk crackdown don't seem to have impacted his performance at all.
Gausman gave up two hits and struck out two over 3.2 scoreless innings in Thursday's split-squad game against Atlanta.
The veteran righty was efficient, tossing 32 of 48 pitches for strikes against a lineup of bench players and minor leaguers. Gausman hasn't seemed to have much trouble adjusting his mechanics in response to MLB's new balk crackdown, tossing 5.1 scoreless innings over two spring starts with a 5:1 K:BB as he builds up ahead of Opening Day.
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Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman: Fans three in first spring action
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Gausman gave up an unearned run on one hit and one walk while striking out three over 1.2 innings in Friday's Grapefruit League game against the Rays.
Two pitchers were charged with balks during the game but neither one was Gausman, so the veteran righty's first start of the spring should be considered a rousing success. His windup was one of the ones singled out by MLB when they announced a new focus on cracking down on balks this offseason, so Gausman has made it a priority to come to a complete stop on the rubber before delivering the ball. If he's able to make the necessary adjustments, there's little reason to think the 32-year-old won't produce another strong campaign after posting a 3.07 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 10.6 K/9 and dazzling 1.9 BB/9 in 64 starts between the Giants and Jays over the last two seasons.
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Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman: Making first spring start
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Gausman will make his Grapefruit League debut Friday against the Rays, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports.
Gausman has been healthy all camp but with MLB cracking down on balks this season, he has been working on eliminating the heel tap in his delivery from the stretch. Evidently, he's happy with where he's at in that regard and is ready to test things out in game action.
Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman: Focused on mechanical tweaks
Rotowire
Gausman is working on eliminating the heel tap in his delivery from the stretch to avoid running afoul of MLB's new crackdowns on balks, Gregor Chisholm of The Toronto Star reports.
As part of the introduction of a pitch clock, the league has instructed umpires to make sure pitchers come to a complete stop before beginning their delivery, something Gausman hasn't really been doing for many years now. In fact, his delivery was used as an example of what not to allow in the video MLB released explaining the changes. The veteran right-hander doesn't seem concerned about the adjustment, however. "It's something that I will have to change, and the good thing is I have six weeks to mess with my delivery and figure out what's going to be new and comfortable to me," Gausman said Thursday. The 32-year-old took a step back statistically in 2022 thanks in part to an elevated .363 BABIP, but he still had a successful first season with Toronto that included a career-best 3.9 percent walk rate and 15.9 percent swinging strike rate.
Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman: Starting Game 2 against Seattle
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Gausman (finger) will start Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series against the Mariners on Saturday, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.
The Blue Jays' season will be riding on Gausman after they were shut out by the duo of Luis Castillo and Andres Munoz in the series opener. Gausman left his final start of regular season last Sunday after three innings with a laceration on his right middle finger, but he made it through Thursday's bullpen session unscathed. The right-hander posted a 3.90 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 99:10 K:BB in 14 starts after the All-Star break.
