ST. LOUIS — At some point the baseball gods — if they actually control anything — and the raw numbers that should flatter his prowess on the mound have to turn Kevin Gausman’s way.
Don’t they?
It’s getting tedious trying to explain how the Blue Jays starter had the bad baseball things happen to him yet again on Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
Errors conspired against the lanky Jays right hander, as did a lack of offence behind him in what was starkly familiar to a 2022 season in which he may have had the hardest luck from a big league starter.
All three runs he surrendered in the Jays 4-1 loss to the Cardinals tied directly to a Matt Chapman error in the third inning. And you may as well add the video evidence to the replay loop from last season.
“First of all, he threw the ball outstandingly well,” manager John Schneider said. “Just a really uncommon error from (Chapman.) Typical outing from him. A great first start.”
Typical in the bottom line, as well. It was the 34th career game in which Gausman didn’t allow an earned run through six innings or more and the first time he was saddled with the loss.
If there wasn’t such a thing as hard luck, there might be no fortune for Gausman at all.
It has been well documented that the Colorado native’s misfortune hits hardest when opponents get a ball in play off him. The .363 they hit against him last season was the second worst in the live-ball era, dating back to 1920.
It kept him mostly out of the Cy Young conversation because the oddities against him ballooned his ERA up to 3.35, 25th best in the American League.
Yet, this is a pitcher that his manager said prior to the game belongs among the elite of the big leagues.
“If you just look at his stuff — (velocity), command and everything, he’s one of the best pitchers in the game in my opinion,” Schneider said. “You just look at him as a pitcher and he’s right up there.
“He’s re-invented himself a couple of times from when he started (in the big leagues) and the good thing about him is he’s never going to lose sight of what makes him great.”
What helps Gausman persevere is an even demeanour that makes it easier to shrug off the vagaries of the game he generally excels at.
“I just rely on these guys,” Gausman said, essentially shrugging at his teammates’ laggardly ways on Saturday. “I know how hard they work and for those things to happen it’s rare. So you just rely on those athletes to play at a high level.
“It’s unfortunate, but I know how good Matt Chapman is. When anything happens, you just have to make your pitch. If you can not let things magnify and keep at it, especially when you’re having success, those things aren’t going to do.”
Unless you’re Kevin Gausman in a Jays uniform, apparently.
SHIFT DISTURBER
If there was anything that caused Chapman to shake his head, it was a pair of hits that would have been routine outs before Major League Baseball outlawed the shift.
One of those, a Nolan Gorman single that squeezed its way down the third base line, scored a pair of Cardinals runs.
“There were two hits today that have been outs the last five years of my career because of the way the shift used to be,” Gausman said. “Those are things you are going to see happen.”
Not that it will cause the 32-year-old veteran to lose sleep.
“He’s good,” Schneider said. “He’s out there trying to win. He’s not thinking about a bad play or a good play behind them. He’s about as even as they come. No panic, whatsoever. He’ll be ready to roll in his next start.”
WALK THIS WAY
The offensive oddities of this one were confounding given the Jays put up 10 runs and 15 hits in their opener yet couldn’t manage a hit until the seventh inning in round two, one of just three on the day.
And the man credited with the win, Cards starter Jack Flaherty, was nowhere near as efficient as his counterpart. Flaherty walked seven (of the 10 Jays free passes) and hit another batter. Yet no one in the Toronto order could muster a hit to cash in a run.
“Weird,” Schneider said. “We just didn’t get the hit when we needed to. Sitting around waiting and you just need someone to get the hit and we didn’t get it.”
The Jays have now left 12 plus runners on bases in each of their first two games, the first time in franchise history they’ve done that to start a season.
MOST VALUABLE NEW GUY?
The Jays will get their first real look at Chris Bassitt, who signed a three-year, $63 million US deal in the off-season as he gets the ball in the series finale here.
“Can’t wait,” Schneider said. “Love his mentality. Love his stuff. He’s like a surgeon. He’s watching every little detail.
“We were excited when we signed him. We were excited to watch him work in the spring. And we’re really excited to see him (on Sunday.)”
AROUND THE BASES
The lone Jays run came on a wild pitch in the eighth inning as Vlad Guerrero Jr. strolled in from third for what was the 300th run of his career … It’s far too early to worry about Chapman at third. This is the guy who was robbed of a Gold Glove last season. However he did struggle some defensively during Grapefruit League play.
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