The Blue Jays took a huge risk when they allowed Kevin Gausman to throw 53 pitches in one inning last week at Yankee Stadium. It was a mistake they want to make sure never happens again.
Manager John Schneider permitted Gausman to push his arm to the max. He could have taken him out after 35 pitches and declined to do so. He also could have pulled the plug at 44 pitches, but declined to do that, too.
By the time Schneider made a move, Gausman had tied a franchise record set by Woody Williams in 1998. It was the most any major-league pitcher had thrown in one inning since Cam Vieaux hit that number with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2022.
“It sucked,” a candid Schneider told reporters on Friday afternoon. “The last two at-bats — being longer at-bats, too — you kind of feel naked. It’s not a good feeling at all. (I was) hoping for a three-pitch (at-bat), or a one-pitch pop-up, something like that, and it just wasn’t the case. I haven’t told him, but I probably will. I won’t do that to him again, or anyone.”
Schneider didn’t say the exact words, but it’s clear he regrets how that third inning at Yankee Stadium was handled. Gausman recorded the second out on his 25th pitch. He was one pitch away from getting out of the jam, but had already walked two batters and surrendered a run.
Gausman’s command was noticeably off and it only got worse. He issued back-to-back walks to Paul Goldschmidt and Jazz Chisholm Jr., which elevated his pitch count to 35. The warning signs were there, and yet with the Jays in the opener of a doubleheader, Schneider kept Gausman in the game. A nine-pitch walk to Anthony Volpe followed, before a three-run double by Austin Wells finally forced the skipper’s hand.
Keeping Gausman in that long was dangerous. The more pitches thrown, the higher the chances are of getting hurt. Teams rarely allow starters to surpass 100 to 110 pitches in a game anymore, and there are even more precautions within in an inning when the pitcher’s arm has no time to recover. Anything over 30 pitches is a concern, over 40 is a red flag. Gausman blew past both.
“I think he’s OK,” Jays general manager Ross Atkins said on the eve of Gausman’s next scheduled start against the Guardians in Cleveland on Saturday. “He handled that well. I think he knows his body and his arm slot and his arm swing very well. I think he’s going to be fine.”
Atkins didn’t seem upset with his manager, but other executives might have been. Â this week that if he was running the Jays, he would have been sitting in Schneider’s office chair by the seventh inning waiting to ream him out. There have been similar sentiments expressed elsewhere.
The Jays front office apparently was more understanding. It claims there were special circumstances that put Gausman at risk, ones that are unlikely to happen again. In other words, nobody is at risk of getting fired.
“It was such an unusual circumstance,” Atkins said. “Really long at-bats, the last couple ones. Obviously it is very rare, but you could see why it did happen.”
Gausman appears no worse for wear in the aftermath of that 11-2 loss to the Yankees. He threw a bullpen on Thursday and remains on track to face the Guardians. The Jays also flipped his spot in the rotation with veteran Chris Bassitt to give him an extra day of rest.
If there’s any hangover from the 53-pitch inning, it will likely pop up on Saturday. If there isn’t, then Gausman should be in the clear and the Jays will have avoided a controversy. Six days removed from that outing, they can finally laugh about it, too.
“I’ve had some funny conversations with him since that outing,” Schneider said of Gausman. ”(He) was trying to let them hit it just to see what would happen. He just wasn’t throwing strikes, or it was getting fouled off.”
The Jays will have to hope there’s no lingering effects because Gausman’s workload isn’t set to diminish any time soon. The Jays are operating with just four starters while trying to piece together the fifth spot with relievers or call-ups.
Atkins said Friday that he has a “couple things in the works” but admitted any moves would be on the depth side. In other words, the Jays might try to bring in another arm, but it’s won’t be a big piece.
That means with a sluggish offence, the Jays don’t have any choice but to lean on their pitchers. But they did have the choice of removing Gausman and conceding that game against the Yankees well before he moved into the danger zone.
The Jays appear to have gotten away with it this time. Thankfully for Gausman and everyone else, they don’t intend to try it again.
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