Kevin Gausman is entering the last year of his five-year, $110 million contract. In his first four years with the Jays, he made 125 starts, posting a 48-41 record, a 3.48 ERA, and an 11.2 bWAR.
We don’t really need a ‘better know’ for him, we’ve been watching him for the last four years.
Advertisement
By bWAR, last year was his best, a 3.8, with a 3.59 ERA in 32 starts, 193 innings (a career high). Not bad for a 34-year-old.
He’s been very consistent in his 30s, making 31 or more starts in each of his last five years. 2024 was a bit of a down season for him, if a 3.83 ERA in 31 games could be called ‘down’. He said he should have started the season on the IL and he likely should have.
Gausman has been a two-pitch pitcher for his career, but over the last couple of seasons, he’s added a slider. In 2025, he used it 8.6% of the time (up from 6.2% in 2024). It was hit pretty hard this year; batters had a .605 slugging average on it. I still think it is a good idea for him to give batters another pitch to think about.
At 34, he hadn’t lost anything on his fastball. He’s still averaging 94.5 MPH on it and topped out at 98.8. At some point, he’ll start slowing down. Steamer still thinks he’ll start 31 games and throw 185 innings, with 11 wins (which would put him 9th in wins in team history) this year, but with a 4.02 ERA, which would be his highest in his time with the Jays.
He is entering his free-agent season. I’m sure he’d like to have a good year and set up another contract. Going into his age-36 season, though, he won’t be getting another five-year deal.
Read the full article here
