Kikuchi's stellar start signals return to form for rotation

TORONTO -- Tough or tender, there’s love in the Blue Jays’ rotation.

For the most part, these pitchers have married into the family. The Blue Jays have slowly collected their veteran cornerstones in Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt and Yusei Kikuchi, their pitching styles and personalities coming together so seamlessly.

They’re competitive enough to push one another but comfortable enough to hold one another to a high standard. That’s not as common as you’d think in the big leagues, but when all four pitchers have already signed their big deals and are comfortable with where their feet meet the ground, it comes easily.

Some of that tough love came after Tuesday’s win over the Mariners following another strong, stubborn outing from Bassitt. He wants more from this rotation. They want more from one another. Wednesday’s 6-1 loss to end the series was a letdown, unraveling with Tim Mayza on the mound in extra innings, but Kikuchi was brilliant for six innings of one-run ball.

This rotation is bouncing back, but they expect so much from one another.

“I’ll be honest with you, I’m pretty disappointed in our starters so far,” Bassitt said on Tuesday. “This is my third start and two of my starts were terrible, in my opinion, so I’m no help to the problem. The biggest thing for us is getting our starters going. I’m so confident in the guys we have, it’s just that the first 10 or 11 games have been pretty rough for us, outside of Berríos.”

That’s Bassitt’s role, the thoughtful veteran who has earned respect around the league. His surly mound demeanor is all part of the package, but get Bassitt talking about his teammates and you’ll hear a genuine level of care. He wanted Kikuchi to win Wednesday’s game just as much as he wanted to win his own start.

“They feed off one another,” manager John Schneider said. “And I think Chris really takes the lead with that.”

It doesn’t always look that way. Many of these starters, Gausman included, have been in rotations that weren’t this close. It’s easy to find yourself in a position where another pitcher wants your job, wants your spotlight, wants your contract. That’s when a rotation turns into a collection of five people with the same job title instead of a living, breathing entity of its own.

It’s about respect. Not just for one another as people, but for the work, the lifestyle, the art of it all.

“We all love and respect the craft that is being a starting pitcher,” Gausman said. “Even pitching in general. We’re always trying to get better. We all can relate to that. We are all trying to be the best possible pitcher we can be and we all want to win. That’s the most important thing. We all want to win a championship and we want to do it now, for Toronto, for the Blue Jays and for Canada. That brings us together. We just get along. It’s rare.”

With a quartet like this, it’s easy for someone like Bowden Francis to step in. The walls around him are sturdy. Francis’ first two starts haven’t gone well, but Bassitt and others are quick to throw their support behind the young right-hander.

It’s that same support that helped Kikuchi turn things around from a dreadful 2022 to the pitcher you see now. Kikuchi looked confident on Wednesday, striking out nine as he hammered away at hitters, spinning off the mound with flairs of personality that his teammates have come to love so much.

But there are days like Wednesday, when a great effort is wasted. The Blue Jays’ offense couldn’t do much outside of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s mammoth 459-foot blast. They left the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth and the bullpen let it slip away in extras. These things need to happen less, but they’ll happen.

The rotation wants to be the steady hand, out in front together.

“We’re all just fierce competitors,” Gausman said. “That makes us gel. We work extremely hard, all of us. Obviously, there’s La Makina, The Machine. [Berríos] doesn’t stop. He’s different than all of us. Kikuchi is the same way. He’s an incredible athlete. That kind of gets lost.”

So many groups exist within a team. There are days to blame the bullpen, the lineup or a manager, sometimes rightfully. There weren’t many days to blame the rotation in 2023, though, and despite the early “disappointment,” '24 is starting to feel the same way.