Kevin Gausman was a prized prospect in the Orioles organization after being drafted with the fourth overall pick in 2012. However, Gausman never panned out in Baltimore and it took a few seasons elsewhere for him to figure things out.
Gausman turned himself into an ace in San Francisco, making his first (and only) All-Star Game in 2021 while finishing sixth in Cy Young voting after a 14-6 season with a 2.81 ERA and 227 strikeouts in 192 innings.
Now, Gausman is one of the best pitchers in the game. He is 2-2 with a 2.33 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 38 ⅔ innings for the Blue Jays this season. This is the pitcher’s second year in Toronto after finishing last season 12-10 with a 3.45 ERA and 205 strikeouts in 174 ⅔ innings.
Gausman joined WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the Audacy Original Podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” and explained why he wouldn’t change anything in his past, and his favorite part of where the sport is headed.
“Knowing what I know now I wouldn’t change anything because everything that I went through happened for a reason, and I think that makes the good times even better,” Gausman said (21:22 in player above). “All those things were part of my development, part of my story.”
Gausman struggled in his rookie season, going 3-5 with a 5.66 ERA in 20 games (five starts). He was a full-time starter in 2014 and got his ERA down to 3.57 in 20 outings, but it continued to fluctuate until the Orioles traded him to Atlanta in 2018.
“But if I had to tell myself something it’s probably not just get so focused on trying to be like everybody else. Embrace being your own individual,” he said. “That’s probably my most favorite thing about where baseball is headed is when guys come to the big leagues they’re not scared anymore.
“The acceptance you have of guys in the clubhouse who go out there and play with confidence and play the way they always have, whereas in the past you get to the big leagues and the young guy kind of shrivels up because he’s facing so-and-so or he has to pitch against this guy. Maybe he grew up a Red Sox fan and he’s pitching at Fenway. Things like that, nowadays these guys have played tournaments and all these things before. Being a big leaguer isn’t as much of a wow factor as it used to be I think.”
Gausman has seen the game change over his 11 seasons in the majors. He’s seen it in plenty of different clubhouses as well as the 32-year-old pitcher has spent time with five different teams.
“I think guys have realized – and maybe it’s organizations or just people in general – you want these guys to be happy. You want them to feel comfortable. So if they need to do things that maybe are outside of the norm, if you keep doing your job everybody’s going to eventually hop on board,” he continued. “That’s one thing I’ve noticed. As the time goes on more guys come up and they can just be themselves, whether they’re wacky or funny or reserved they’re not going to get picked on because of it anymore. It’s just a different game now.”
The Blue Jays ace specifically mentioned seeing the change in the game over the past five years, and that should only continue to ramp up as time passes. Younger generations will continue to take over the league and they’ll bring their bat flips, celebrations, and personalities along with them.
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