The Blue Jays starting pitcher recently crossed a major statistic in his career
The Toronto Blue Jays starting rotation has been stripped to the studs this season due to injuries that have plagued five hurlers on the rotation. Currently, four starters — Shane Bieber, Jose Berrios, Max Scherzer and Cody Ponce — are all out with various ailments. Ponce will be out the entire year due to ACL surgery following a sprain he suffered against the Colorado Rockies on March 30.
There have been few constants on the pitching staff for the Blue Jays this season. And one of them has been Kevin Gausman.
Gausman, in addition to offseason signing Dylan Cease, have put together solid seasons for Toronto. And the former recently crossed a major career milestone in his latest outing.
In an 8-5 loss against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, Gausman struck out five and allowed seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits (one home run) in 4.2 innings pitched.
Despite his outing not leading to a victory for Toronto, Gausman was able to cross the 2,000 strikeout mark in his career in his outing and received a standing ovation from the home crowd at Rogers Centre in Toronto after reaching that mark in the top of the fourth inning.
"My career has been ups and downs and very different," Gausman said in a quote shared on "X" by the Athletic's Mitch Bannon. "Not all sunshine and rainbows. So I take those things very seriously. Yeah, I'm honored by it, for sure."
This season is Gausman's fifth with Toronto and the last under a five-year, $111 million contract.
Gausman has been consistent in his tenure with the Blue Jays. This year, he's struck out 48 hitters in 51.1 innings pitched across nine starts and has a 3.86 ERA.
In his tenure with Toronto, Gausman has a 3.51 ERA and has fanned 841 hitters in 785 innings across 134 starts.
During those five seasons, Gausman was an All-Star once (2023), was named second team All-MLB once ('23) and led the American League in strikeouts once ('23).
Gausman and the rest of the Blue Jays are currently fourth in the American League East with an 18-23 record.
Gausman's next outing will likely start in the series finale against the Detroit Tigers on May 17.
Toronto will look to bounce back and win the final two games against Tampa Bay on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Both games will begin at 7:07 p.m. ET at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
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