Kevin Gausman will take these Blue Jays over the 107-win Giants he pitched for in 2021
the best team in the major leagues.
The Blue Jays right-hander, who outdueled Cy Young favourite Tarik Skubal in
a 6-1 win Saturday
, limiting the Detroit Tigers to one hit in six shutout innings, was an all-star in 2021 with the 107-win San Francisco Giants, leading the team with 14 wins and a 2.81 ERA.
When asked to compare those Giants, who were knocked out of the post-season by the 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers, to the 63-43 Jays, Gausman said he likes this team better.
Surprising Toronto Blue Jays will likely be buyers ahead of Thursday's trade deadline as they prepare for a post-season run. Toronto entered the weekend with the best record in Major League Baseball, exceeding expectations. (July 26, 2025)
'This has been a lot more fun, honestly,' he said after pitching Saturday. 'I'm more tied to this organization than I was that one. That might sound bad to say, but that's the reality.'
Gausman went to the Giants before the 2020 season, having spent a couple of months in the Cincinnati Reds' bullpen trying to find his stuff after getting waived by the Atlanta Braves in August 2019. He did, and it earned him
the five-year, $110-million (U.S.) deal with the Jays
that expires after next season.
All-star catcher suffered a concussion and is off for seven days while we finally get to the
'You can look at it as two years (in San Francisco), but really it was the COVID year and then the next year,' the 34-year-old Coloradan added Sunday. 'Really, it was two months and a year. I wasn't on a multi-year deal, so I just didn't feel as comfortable there as I do here.'
But it wasn't just the contract. The 13-year veteran
, who was in the visiting dugout at the Rogers Centre when
Edwin Encarnacion
walked off his Baltimore Orioles in
the 2016 wild-card game
,
has enjoyed watching the younger Jays develop into legitimate big-leaguers.
'Guys who weren't even a thought when I first signed here are now staples in our lineup, which I think is really cool,' said Gausman, referring to players like
Ernie Clement
,
Addison Barger
and
Nathan Lukes
. 'It's been a lot more fun to watch more guys put their stamp on themselves and what kind of baseball players they can be. Whereas when I was with the Giants, there were a lot of guys who were already superstars.'
With a few more years under his belt, and a five-year deal, Gausman's voice also carries more weight now.
'It's a very similar experience right now in the feeling in the clubhouse,' says Pete Walker,
'Not to say that the Giants didn't value my opinion, but they didn't know if I was going to be there, so it was like, 'Why are we going to ask this guy,'' Gausman said. 'Now I feel like, especially after what happened last season … the conversations (with the coaching staff) in the off-season, I have to give a lot of credit to them, the way they looked at themselves and our own players (and asked), 'How do we need to be better?' '
A last-place finish last season left a harsh impression on a lot of the players — 'We've been through hell and back together,' Chris Bassitt said from the locker next to Gausman's — and there's no question that has to do with how close a lot of the returning players feel. And that feeling has helped the Jays to the best record in baseball.
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