Blue Jays Pitchers 2023: A Look Back at the Rotation

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Blue Jays Pitchers 2023 – The Rotation That Should Have Won It All?

It’s early 2026 now. The snow is melting here in Toronto (well, sort of), and spring training is just around the corner. But for some reason, my mind keeps drifting back to three years ago. You remember 2023, right? That was the year we were supposed to put it all together. The Rogers Centre renovations were fresh. The hype was real. And honestly? The pitching staff held up their end of the bargain. If you look at the Blue Jays pitchers 2023 roster, it’s actually kind of wild how good they were.

We had an ace who struck out everyone. We had a workhorse who threw eight different pitches. We had a redemption story in Yusei Kikuchi.

But we also had… well, that playoff game in Minnesota. And we had the Alek Manoah mystery.

It’s weird looking back at it now. At the time, we were so frustrated with the offense leaving guys on base. But with the benefit of hindsight, I think we can finally appreciate just how special that pitching staff was. They kept us in games we had no business being in. They were the backbone.

Let’s take a walk down memory lane. Grab a coffee (or a cold one), and let’s talk about the arms of ’23.

The Big Three: Gausman, Bassitt, and Berríos

You know what? I still miss watching Kevin Gausman throw that splitter.

In 2023, Gausman was absolute electric factory. He wasn’t just good; he was “stop what you’re doing and watch” good. He led the American League in strikeouts with 237. Think about that. In an era where guys blow out their arms throwing 102 mph, Gausman was dissecting lineups with a pitch that just disappeared off the table.

Then you had Chris Bassitt.

The guy was a bulldog. Remember how he’d shake off the catcher about six times, adjust his PitchCom, look at the runner, and then throw a 70 mph curveball for a strike? He threw 200 innings that year. In modern baseball, 200 innings is like seeing a unicorn. He won 16 games. He didn’t care about looking pretty; he just cared about getting outs.

Blue Jays Pitchers 2023

And José Berríos.

Man, 2022 was rough for him, but 2023? He was a different guy. He lowered his ERA by over a run and a half. He was sharp, aggressive, and confident. He earned that Gold Glove (he was a finalist, remember?). He pitched like the guy we traded for.

It really felt like we had three aces.

Blue Jays Pitchers 2023 Stats: The Numbers Don’t Lie

Sometimes our memories play tricks on us. We remember the heartbreak better than the success. So, I went back and pulled the actual numbers. Check this out. These stats are better than we remembered.

Pitcher	Starts	Innings Pitched	ERA	Strikeouts
Kevin Gausman	31	185.0	3.16	237
Chris Bassitt	33	200.0	3.60	186
José Berríos	32	189.2	3.65	184
Yusei Kikuchi	32	167.2	3.86	181

See what we mean? Four guys making 30+ starts. That just doesn’t happen anymore. The rotation was healthy, consistent, and dominant.

Gausman was a Cy Young finalist (finished 3rd).
Bassitt led the AL in wins (tied).
Kikuchi had a career-best ERA at the time.

We took this durability for granted. You look around the league now in 2026, and teams are scrambling to find guys who can go five innings. In 2023, our starters were eating innings like they were at a buffet.

The Elephant in the Room: The Manoah Mystery

Okay, we have to talk about it. Alek Manoah.

Coming off that 2022 season, we all thought he was the guy. He was a Cy Young finalist. He was the “Big Puma.” He was mic’d up at the All-Star game. Then 2023 hit.

It was… painful to watch. It wasn’t just that he was struggling; it was that he looked lost. The command was gone. The slider hung. He got sent down to the Florida Complex League – which is basically rookie ball – to “rebuild his mechanics.”:

2022 ERA: 2.24
2023 ERA: 5.87

I’m not bringing this up to be mean. But you can’t talk about the Blue Jays pitchers 2023 story without acknowledging the hole in the rotation. It forced the bullpen to work overtime early in the year and put a ton of pressure on the other four starters.

But credit to the front office (I know, I rarely say that), they managed to patch it together with bullpen days and pure grit.

The Bullpen: Romano and the Gang

Speaking of the bullpen, do you remember the lights at the Rogers Centre? When Jordan Romano came in, the stadium went red. The music hit. It was a vibe. Romano was elite in 2023. He dealt with some back issues, but when he was on, he was shutting the door.

But the unsung heroes:

Tim Mayza: The guy had an ERA around 1.50. He was basically unhittable for lefties.
Erik Swanson: We got him for Teoscar Hernández. People were mad at first, but Swanson was a rock in the 8th inning.
Trevor Richards: The changeup artist. He struck out everyone, then gave up a homer, then struck out three more. The full Richards experience.

This group had the 4th, best bullpen ERA in the majors that year. They were the reason we won so many one-run games.

The Wild Card Heartbreak: “The Decision”

I still get mad thinking about this. October 4, 2023. Game 2 against the Twins.

José Berríos is on the mound. He is dealing. He’s throwing gas. He has his best stuff of the year. He hasn’t given up a run. He strikes out a guy, walks a guy in the 4th inning… and here comes John Schneider. He pulls him. 47 pitches.

I remember screaming at my TV. “What are you doing?!”

They brought in Yusei Kikuchi out of the bullpen. The Twins immediately got hits. They scored two runs. We lost 2-0. Season over.

It was the defining moment of the Blue Jays pitchers 2023 season. All that hard work, all those innings, all that dominance… ended because of a pre-planned spreadsheet decision. It felt like they didn’t trust their eyes. They trusted the computer more than the athlete.

It’s been three years, and I still don’t understand it. Berríos looked like he could have gone seven shutout innings that day.

Why It Matters Now in 2026?

Why am I bringing all this up now? Because it teaches us something about baseball. You can have the stats. You can have the best rotation in the league. You can have four guys throwing 160+ innings. But if the bats go cold and the management overthinks the big moments, it’s over.

The 2023 team was a “what if.” The pitching was championship-caliber. Seriously, if we had just average hitting with runners in scoring position, that team could have beaten the Rangers. They could have gone all the way.

Key takeaways from the 2023 Staff:

Health is King: Having four starters stay healthy all year is rare.
The Splitter: Gausman’s splitter remains one of the best pitches in Jays history.
Redemption: Kikuchi and Berríos proved that a bad year doesn’t define a career.

Reliever	Games	ERA	Saves
Jordan Romano	59	2.90	36
Tim Mayza	69	1.52	1
Erik Swanson	69	2.97	4

FAQ

Who was the best pitcher for the Blue Jays in 2023?

Honestly, it was Kevin Gausman. He was a Cy Young finalist and led the league in strikeouts. He was the guy you wanted on the mound to stop a losing streak.

Why was Alek Manoah so bad in 2023?

It was a mix of things. His mechanics got out of whack, he lost command of the strike zone, and the pitch clock seemed to rush him. It was a mental and physical grind for him.

Did the Blue Jays have a good bullpen in 2023?

Yeah, they were actually elite. Tim Mayza and Erik Swanson were lights out, and Jordan Romano was an All-Star closer. They saved a ton of close games.

Why did they pull Berríos in the Wild Card game?

The analytics department had a plan to pull him early to avoid the “third time through the order” penalty. It backfired completely. Fans are still salty about it.

How many innings did Chris Bassitt pitch?

He threw exactly 200 innings. He was the definition of a workhorse and kept the bullpen fresh by going deep into games.

Did Yusei Kikuchi improve in 2023?

Big time. After a rough 2022, he figured out his control and became a reliable mid-rotation starter. It was a huge bounce-back season for him.

What happened to the Jays in the 2023 playoffs?

They got swept by the Minnesota Twins in the Wild Card round. The pitching was good (mostly), but the offense scored zero runs in two games. Zero.

Final Thoughts from the Future

Looking back from 2026, the 2023 season for Blue Jays pitchers feels like a bridge. It was the peak of that specific rotation group. We didn’t get the parade. We didn’t even get a playoff win. But for six months, every night at 7:07 PM, we knew we had a chance to win because of who was standing on that mound. Whether it was Gausman hopping over the foul line, Bassitt staring down a hitter, or Romano squatting before a pitch – they gave us a show.