Chris Bassitt pumped about former teammate Max Scherzer joining Blue Jays.
Photo credit: MLB.com
Chris Bassitt makes his feelings known in an interview on Max Scherzer joining the Toronto Blue Jays for $15.5 million.
Toronto Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt will be reunited with former teammate Max Scherzer this upcoming season after the Blue Jays signed the veteran on a one-year $15.5 million deal on Thursday.
Bassitt is very exited to play along side Scherzer once again, as they played together for the New York Mets back in 2022.
Bassitt was on the JD Bunkis Podcast yesterday and talked about how Max Scherzer is one of the best pitchers of all time and what he brings to the Toronto Blue Jays clubhouse.
"Max is one of the best pitchers of all time," Bassitt said. "And I think what he's going to be able to bring to not just the starters, but the pitching staff and the pitching coaches and things like that, his knowledge is going to really, really help us."
"Yeah, I just think he has the ability to retain information at a level that I just don't think it's possible for most players," Bassitt said. "I just think if you gave most players the information that he has, I think it would overwhelm the majority of players. But he's able to understand all the ins and outs of every situation."
"And it's extremely impressive to kind of see, especially from our standpoint of understanding kind of the data and the information that gets thrown at us. And then to have him kind of sit back and say, yeah, I can take all your information and pretty much triple it, it's just impressive."
If Scherzer avoids the injury bug this year, he'll upgrade the rotation and could perhaps indirectly upgrade the bullpen as well.
Scherzer could push Yariel Rodriguez into a relief role, something he has done with success before.
Last year was his first in the majors and he made 21 starts with decent results. He had a 4.47 ERA, 23.1% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate.
But prior to signing with the Jays, Rodriguez was a dominant closer in Japan. In 2022, he made 56 appearances for the Chunichi Dragons with a 1.15 ERA, 27.5% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate.
He sat out 2023 while attempting to be declared a free agent.
Going into last year, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reported reported that Rodriguez's contract stipulated he could only be optioned for the 2024 season.
The Blue Jays did indeed option him a few times last year but it seems they won't be able to do so from now on, so perhaps he'll end up in the bullpen instead.
Rodriguez could compete for a leverage role alongside Hoffman, Yimi García, Chad Green and Erik Swanson.
Sportsnet"s David Singh interviewed Bassitt back in 2023 asking him about a scouting report on his former teammate ahead of a series against the Blue Jays.
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| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 1 | 171 ANSWERS Chris Bassitt pumped about former teammate Max Scherzer joining Blue Jays. Does Max Scherzer make the Toronto Blue Jays rotation on of the best in baseball? | ||
| Yes | 82 | 48 % |
| No | 29 | 17 % |
| Too early to tell | 60 | 35.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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