Bassitt peels back curtain on 'unique' Blue Jays rotation

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- The Blue Jays’ rotation is the heartbeat of this organization, whether the other vital organs cooperate or not.

This group can only pump so hard for so long, though, coming off a season where Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi combined to pitch 742 1/3 innings. No other quartet in baseball came close to that number, and it may be years until another does.

These pitchers are young enough to still be at the top of their games but old enough to understand the realities of baseball, and those realities don’t often sit in the sunshine. The Blue Jays will need more than just Alek Manoah to bounce back, they’ll need another, another and another.

“Yes, we had an unbelievable run last year, but the odds of that happening again I wouldn’t say are high,” Bassitt said Sunday. “Obviously, we ran four starters last year for a long period of time. We’re probably going to need those guys.”

Don’t mistake this for pessimism from Bassitt. He understands the fluctuations of health, performance and plain old luck from year to year. This Blue Jays rotation can be just as good in 2024, but the ingredients may need to be measured out differently. This brotherhood they’ve so admirably built needs to adopt some new members for when that time comes.

You might not guess it by watching Bassitt on the mound, where his heart rate feels calm enough to sneak a 10-second nap in between pitches, but he’s the ultimate hype man. Get the 10th-year veteran talking about his fellow pitchers and he lights up, heaping praise on the family he’s found on these mounds.

Just an hour after pitching coach Pete Walker took his thoughtful and measured approach to discussing the Blue Jays depth options, particularly No. 1 prospect Ricky Tiedemann and the underrated Bowden Francis, Bassitt wasn’t nearly as reserved.

“As crazy as it is, if Ricky or Francis need to start for us this year and they become our No. 1, I don’t think anyone would be shocked,” Bassitt said. “As crazy as that is, that’s how good of stuff they have and how mature they are.”

That’s praise that makes you stop and stare.

You can add Yariel Rodriguez to the depth picture, too, after the Cuban right-hander landed in camp this weekend and threw his first side session this week. Mitch White will be part of that picture too, and there’s enough prospect talent bubbling behind them, with Chad Dallas earning some early mentions in Dunedin. After two years of high-wire acts, walking a piece of dental floss with no net to save them, the Blue Jays finally feel like their rotation depth can be a legitimate strength.

Making this all work? No one is trying to kill the king. Even with a mix of ages, backgrounds, languages and personalities this vast, the group of starters falls together so naturally. Most important of all, they celebrate one another’s success like their own. They can all win.

“We genuinely care for each other. We genuinely are super happy that someone has success,” Bassitt said. “We’re very close on and off the field. We hang out all the time. We genuinely care for each other. I wouldn’t say that’s normal. There’s a lot of people with really good teams, but behind the scenes there’s a lot of animosity about not being the No. 1, not being the No. 2. If I’m the No. 5 this year, I couldn’t care less. That just means Berríos, Kikuchi and all of those guys are doing unbelievable jobs.”

By May or June, perhaps Francis or Tiedemann are doing the same. So often, talk about culture in an organization is empty fluff, but this is what it looks like when it happens organically and is driven by the players themselves. That’s how it has to happen for it to work.

“For them to care about me and my family, and for me to care about them and their [families], it’s a very unique situation,” Bassitt said. “All of our kids are young, small friends hanging out. We’re all hanging out. It would be pretty hard to find a group that’s as good as us and as close as we are.”

There’s so much leaning on this group. Talk of internal improvements rely on the assumption that this rotation will repeat 2023, but it’s not that simple. They’ll need help, and finally, it’s arriving.