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The Blue Jay ace was a consensus top 5 pitcher entering the off-season but has seen his ADP drop since he was diagnosed with right arm fatigue earlier this off-season.
However, the Blue Jay has begun to make significant progress in his recovery process and is making a case to return to the rotation much sooner than expected.
The right-handed pitcher was dominant last season, where he posted a 3.16 ERA and 1.18 WHIP across 185 innings, with 237 punchouts.
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Kevin Gausman Injury Update for Fantasy Baseball
Kevin Gausman took a significant step forward to a return on Wednesday, March 20, when he threw a 36-pitch two-inning simulated game.
Kevin Gausman just finished a two-inning simulated game at Blue Jays complex in Dunedin.
He threw 36 pitches (28 strikes) to seven batters. Two hits, two strikeouts, two flyouts, and a groundout.
— Arden Zwelling (@ArdenZwelling) March 20, 2024
The ace was quoted as saying he felt “pretty good” and should be in line to slowly continue to build his workload.
The 33-year-old will still likely need to increase his pitch count to the upper 70s before being cleared to make his first start of the season.
Kevin Gausman Fantasy Baseball Outlook
This news update is very promising and suggests that fantasy managers who took him at his recent discount may have gotten a steal. While Gausman may miss his first turn through the rotation, that may be the worst-case scenario.
Most strikeouts in a season, Blue Jays history
Roger Clemens (1997) 292
Roger Clemens (1998) 271
Robbie Ray (2021) 248
Kevin Gausman (2023) 232
A.J. Burnett (2008) 231#NextLevel pic.twitter.com/XroMYbHdOF— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) September 21, 2023
In the meantime, expect Bowden Francis to be slotted into the Blue Jays rotation if Gausman were to miss time, and other options like Mitch White and Wes Parsons should be in contention for long relief.
Gausman is scheduled to throw 60 pitches in the team's Grapefruit League finale on Monday, March 25. If the ace does not suffer any setbacks, he could return to the mound within the first two weeks of the season and could see a chance of not even missing his first turn in the rotation.
Around now is the time when people do their top 100 players for 2024 (or something like that) so,
Pitchers with at least 5.0 fWar in 2022 & 2023:
Kevin Gausman
He’s a top 15 player in the league and if you disagree you’re wrong. pic.twitter.com/sVecEdqy4n
— nick (@splitteraces) December 26, 2023
Even if he does return to the rotation sooner than expected, he should be projected to be on a strict pitch count, which will limit his ceiling only in the short term. Gausman should still be viewed as an elite starting pitcher with high strikeout potential.
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