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Toronto Blue Jays Make Big Decision with Veteran in Final Weekend of Season

Chris Bassitt won't be taking the mound for the Jays in the season finale on Sunday.

Brady Farkas

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Chris Bassitt (40) pitches to the Boston Red Sox during the first inning at Rogers Centre on Sept 23.
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Chris Bassitt (40) pitches to the Boston Red Sox during the first inning at Rogers Centre on Sept 23. / John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
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The Toronto Blue Jays are closing out the 2024 regular season with a weekend series at home against the Miami Marlins.

And when the Jays officially close out the season on Sunday afternoon, veteran right-hander Chris Bassitt won't be taking the mound.

Per Keegan Mattheson of MLB.com:

Chris Bassitt will no longer pitch Game 162 for the #BlueJays John Schneider says.

Now a “TBA” day.

Frankly, it doesn't really matter, unless Bassitt personally wanted to pitch or had contract incentives to reach. He's 35 years old and has already thrown 171.0 innings on the year. Getting a jump on the offseason is not a bad idea for a guy with that kind of workload under his belt.

It was an odd year for Bassitt, who went 10-14 with a 4.16 ERA. The win-loss record isn't great, but the ERA is certainly respectable. He also struck out 168 batters in 171.0 innings.

He led the American League in wins last season with 16 and is 72-56 lifetime with a 3.59 ERA. He's played for the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, New York Mets and Blue Jays. He has won double-digit games in five different seasons.

Friday's game will begin at 7:07 p.m. ET as right-hander Jose Berrios (TOR) pitches against Adam Oller. Berrios has had a very good year for Toronto, going 16-10 with a 3.38 ERA. Oller has gone 1-4 with a 5.06 for Miami, who has had a dreadful season on the pitching front.

Miami enters play at 59-100 overall while the Blue Jays are 74-85.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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