Chris Bassitt’s third with the Jays and the last under his $63 million free agent contract, which he signed before the 2023 season, will be in 2025.
I love watching him pitch. It is almost fascinating to watch a guy who doesn’t get by by blowing guys away with a 98-mile-per-hour fastball. Most guys I like to try to guess along with, figure out what he will throw next, where he’ll throw. Bassitt? Not a chance. I enjoy watching the process.
I liked Mark Buehrle because he liked to be in rhythm. He thought keeping the rhythm going was more important than throwing the ‘right’ pitch. Bassitt is the opposite. He wants to get the right pitch. It is a chess game for him. I like guys who show me that there are different ways to do things.
Bassitt is a thinker. I’m much the opposite when I play sports. Thinking gets in the way for me. But then, no one would pay me money to play any sport.
In his two years with the Jays, he has a 26-22 record and a 3.86 ERA in 64 starts and 371 innings. In bWAR he’s a 2.4 (2.5 in 2023, -0.1 in 2024). FanGraphs has him at a 4.7 WAR (2.5 in 2023, 2.2 in 2024). I think FanGraphs numbers are a fairer view of his two seasons.
The big difference between the two seasons was his BABIP, .274 in 2023 and .333 last year. He did give up a bit more hard contact last year (as well as a bit more soft contact). His strikeout rate was pretty much the same in the two seasons, but his walk rate jumped from 7.1% to 9.2%.
Bassitt led the team in innings pitched in 2023 and was third in innings pitched last year.
He turns 36 next month, so time isn’t on his side. It isn’t a great idea to bet pitchers will improve as they age into their late 30s. But then Bassitt didn’t throw a lot of innings in hit 20s and guys like that tend to age well.
Bassitt made 187 MLB starts, 121 of them in the last four years, from age 32 to 35. In his 20s, he made just 40 MLB starts.
At some point he’ll slow down, I’m hoping it won’t be this year.
Chris is a ground-ball pitcher, but his ground-ball numbers have dropped in the last two years. In 2022, he had a 48.8% ground-ball rate, 42.3% in 2023, and 40.3% last year.
Bassitt throws almost every type of pitch used in the majors (except knuckleball and spitball). Last year, he threw:
- Sinkers: 40.7% of the time.
- Cutter: 19.7%.
- Curveball: 13.7%
- Sweeper: 7.4%.
- Change: 5.3%.
- Four Seamer: 4.5%.
- Slider: 4.4%.
- Split Finger: 4.3%.
He calls his pitches most of the time. I’m ok with that.
In 2023, he led the team in Quality Starts with 21. Last year, he dropped to 12 Quality Starts, third on the team.
Steamer figures Bassitt will go 10-11 with a 4.10 ERA in 31 starts and 179 innings.