"Who is that man?": Blue Jays fans had mixed reaction to Gausman haircut
If you turned on the TV yesterday and couldn’t quite figure out who exactly was dealing out the mound for the Toronto Blue Jays, you’re probably not alone.
On Friday, multiple reporters broke the news that Kevin Gausman — arguably the team’s best-starting pitcher this season — had undergone a transformational procedure to drastically change his look.
No, he hadn’t gone through plastic surgery or anything like that, but he’d decided to chop off his signature long hair in favour of a shorter look.
Starters coming in, no Jose and Kevin Gausman got a hair cut #bluejays pic.twitter.com/KJostR3PuV
— Biggles14 (@biggles14) September 8, 2023
And with Gausman getting the start for Toronto on Saturday against the Kansas City Royals, it wasn’t exactly clear how the new-look pitcher would perform.
Sure, getting a haircut shouldn’t change a pitcher’s ability or anything like that, but in a sport as superstitious as baseball, making such a big change this late in the season will obviously have its fair share of opinions about it.
But in his debut with the new ‘do, it’s hard to imagine things going better for Gausman. He went eighth innings for one of his deepest starts of the year while giving up just one earned run and picking up 10 strikeouts en route to a 5-1 victory for the Jays.
Still, Toronto fans had plenty of thoughts about their star pitcher, including many who admitted they had to do a double-take upon their first time seeing him on the hill.
Make everyone cut their hair
— Kevin Gausman's Depressed Weed Dealer (@Matt06121981) September 9, 2023
Watching #BlueJays game now.
Gausman's hair is clean cut ✅ and he looks great. Younger 👌#Jays #NextLevel— Beautiful Baseball (@SunTrophy) September 9, 2023
I CANT GET OVER KEVIN GAUSMAN WITH SHORT HAIR WHO IS THAT MAN ðŸ˜
— eri ☾⋆˚✧˖ (@DAYASVERSE) September 9, 2023
Boy oh boy did the Jays need that Gausman outing. Also, I like the hair.
— Alison Craig (@lawandchocolate) September 9, 2023
I can’t take Gausman seriously with short hair
— 🇳🇴 (@Letxng_) September 9, 2023
can you guys stop posting the pictures of short hair gausman i’m having a hard time processing it
— whatjays (@bluejaysmario) September 9, 2023
Gausman cut his hair and now my Halloween costume is ruined pic.twitter.com/vhjyDUp8wM
— very online guy (@dexterreid_) September 9, 2023
seeing how short gausman’s hair feels so WEIRD but we love it
— susan ahmadi (@susanahmadi) September 9, 2023
Why did Kevin Gausman cut his hair? Does he want us all to cry? #BlueJays
— Melissa (@melissasprofile) September 9, 2023
Gausman has a record of 11-8 with an ERA of 3.28 and 217 strikeouts in 28 appearances for the Blue Jays this season. Particularly with the tough year from Alek Manoah, he’s been one of the key driving forces of the team’s postseason push, with Toronto currently sitting 1.5 games ahead of the Texas Rangers for the final American League Wild Card spot.
If the team has much hope of making — and advancing far into — the 2023 playoffs, they’ll have to rely on Gausman down much of the stretch, no matter what his hair looks like.
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