Fantasy Baseball Player Notes

Kevin Gausman delivered a solid performance for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2024, recording a 14-11 win-loss record over 31 starts, with a 3.83 ERA, 162 strikeouts, and a 1.22 WHIP across 181 innings pitched. Notably, he exhibited a significant home-road split: at home, he posted a 5.02 ERA over 95 innings, whereas on the road, he maintained a more impressive 2.51 ERA across 86 innings. Gausman remained a reliable innings-eater, surpassing 180 innings for the fourth consecutive season. His consistent ability to take the mound every fifth day adds value to both the Blue Jays and fantasy managers seeking stability in their pitching rotations. Gausman's performance may hinge on his ability to regain the sharpness of his splitter and improve his home-field effectiveness. If he can address these areas, a return to his 2023 form, where he led the American League in strikeouts, is within reach. At 34, Gausman has shown resilience and adaptability, but the dropoff may be on the horizon. He is riskier than in previous years.

Jose Berrios's calling card is durability. The 30-year-old started exactly 32 games for the fourth consecutive year in 2024. In the 192 1/3 innings he pitched, he struck out 153 batters and ended with a 3.60 and 1.15 WHIP. He also won 16 games, which is a very high number considering the team he was playing for. Berrios's disastrous 2022 does appear to be an outlier in terms of ERA/WHIP, but his Statcast page is ugly, save for a low walk percentage (6.9%). Fantasy managers cannot expect him to win half his games again this season, but he is a perfectly serviceable SP4 or SP5 you can draft in the late rounds.

Chris Bassitt started 30+ games for the third year in a row in 2024, but he also suffered his second-worst career ERA at 4.16 to go along with an uncharacteristic WHIP of 1.46. The 35-year-old's strikeout rate stayed consistent at 22.2%, but his walk rate jumped over two percentage points to 9.2%. While he did manage 10 wins on a terrible team, he had trouble fooling hitters with his sinker and change-up, which is a harbinger for bad things to come. Bassitt is much more of a streamer/waiver wire pickup in 2025 than the durable innings eater fantasy managers have enjoyed in recent years.