Sunday Bantering: Gausman Starts Opening Day, And Other Jays Stuff

DUNEDIN, Fla. — The Toronto Blue Jays wasted little time settling on their Opening Day starter, announcing Sunday that right-hander Kevin Gausman will take the ball March 27 when the club kicks off the regular season.

Gausman, 33, has logged 4.1 official spring innings without surrendering a run, scattering four hits, one walk and striking out six. The assignment continues a run of durability for the veteran, who made 32 starts a year ago and posted a 3.59 ERA across 185.2 innings.

While the rotation picture behind Gausman remains fluid, manager John Schneider and his staff continue to weigh options. With José Berríos suddenly unavailable, Monday’s exhibition in St. Lucie County will function as a bullpen day, with non-roster invitee Grant Rogers drawing the start. The club is bringing a surprising number of regulars for the three-hour-plus bus ride—an unusual commitment for veterans who typically shy away from long spring trips.

Depth behind Gausman is still taking shape. Dylan Cease, Max Scherzer, Caleb Ponce and Eric Lauer are candidates for early-season turns, though top prospect Juaron Yesavage appears unlikely to break camp with the big-league staff. Timelines for Yesavage, Shane Bieber and Berríos could dictate how aggressively the Jays fill the final two rotation slots.

Bullpen decisions are equally unsettled. Left-hander Brendon Little, who has tossed five scoreless innings this spring with eight strikeouts against three hits and four walks, has refined his repertoire—adding a pair of pitches and scrapping another—to solidify his role as the primary lefty. The tinkering addresses issues that surfaced late last season and could secure him a high-leverage spot.

The relief corps currently projects to include Jordan Hicks, Tyler Rogers, Brent Honeywell Jr., Mitch White, Nick Sandlin, Little, and southpaw Brandon Fisher, with Spencer Miles and Angel Bastardo still in the mix. Adding Miles or Bastardo would push the pen to nine arms, though the club could opt for a more traditional eight-man unit.

Toronto’s Grapefruit League schedule resumes at 1 p.m. ET Monday, while attention later shifts to the World Baseball Classic semifinal, where USA’s Paul Skenes faces Dominican Republic righty Luis Severino.

With Opening Day less than two weeks away, the Jays have a handful of roster calls left to make—none bigger than who follows Gausman in the rotation and which arms round out a bullpen expected to carry heavy innings early.