Blue Jays' ace Gausman doesn't seem to be on track for Opening Day

Hot off a 2023 season where he was a finalist for the Cy Young, Kevin Gausman seemed pencilled in to be the Toronto Blue Jays’ Opening Day starter.

But with less than two weeks before Toronto’s 2024 regular season kicks off, it doesn’t seem like that will be the case.

As per MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson, Gausman is throwing one inning of live batting practice today, with the plan to “build up” from there.

Kevin Gausman will throw one inning of live batting practice today, not two, and build up from there. Making that Opening Day start on March 28 looks unlikely.

"We just want him to be good, and if that means 30 starts as opposed to 32, we’ll be pretty happy with that.” #BlueJays

— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) March 15, 2024

Gausman has yet to pitch a spring training game yet this year, while dealing with shoulder fatigue.

“We just want him to be good, and if that means 30 starts as opposed to 32, we’ll be pretty happy with that,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said today, per Matheson.

Gausman was 12-9 with an ERA of 3.16 and 237 strikeouts in 31 appearances in 2023, and earned his first-ever Cy Young nomination last season. Making the playoffs in each of his first two seasons with the franchise, Gausman and the Jays are still searching for their first postseason win since 2016.

Opening Day for Toronto is just under two weeks away, when they take on the Tampa Bay Rays on March 28.

With Alek Manoah also dealing with shoulder issues of his own, it seems like Jose Berrios could make the Opening Day start for Toronto.

But the pitching injuries aren’t the only roster woes for Toronto, with the team also announcing today that catcher Danny Jansen will be out for at least two weeks with a small broken bone in his hand.