Early on in his time in the six, Kevin Gausman has been everything and more for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Last night he went six innings against the Boston Red Sox striking out nine batters, allowing four hits and just one run. Of his 88 pitches, 62 were called strikes and 19 of them were whiffs.
But that’s not the most significant part as Gausman set a franchise record walkless streak facing 91 batters allowing exactly zero walks. By the end of yesterday’s 6-5 come from behind win, that rose up to 95.
As noted by Chris Black, the previous record was held by Paul Quantrill in the 2001 season, when he went walkless against 90 batters. Jimmy Key hit the 80 mark in 1990, while J.A. Happ hit 73 in 2017.
“Howdy. I’m the Splitter Sheriff” – @KevinGausman
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 27, 2022
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According to Baseball Savant, his K% is in the 84th percentile, his BB% is in the 95th percentile, his whiff% is in the 88th percentile and his chase rate? All the way at the top in the 100th percentile. Solid numbers to start the year.
A lot of this is coming from Gausman’s splitter, which has absolutely been carving opponents up in his four games and 24.2 IP. He’s thrown it 112 times so far this season allowing a .125 batting average and an impressive whiff% of 51.8 percent.
The Jays play their third of four games against the Boston Red Sox tonight before the Houston Astros and New York Yankees visit the Rogers Centre.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.
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