LOS ANGELES — Three years ago, one of Chris Bassitt’s lowest moments on the mound turned into one of his greatest learning lessons. The Mets handed Bassitt the game in the wild-card final against the Padres 2022, with the season at stake. Bassitt had already started in two postseasons in Oakland earlier in his career. However, New York offered a new challenge and a new stage. At the time he believed he was prepared. “I wasn’t,” Bassitt said, looking back at that experience earlier this week. “Mentally I didn’t have a good idea of how to prepare myself for it. Physically, I did not like my current state.”He allowed three run on three hits and 3 walks over 4 innings. His final start was the last of his only year with Mets. Their season ended in a 6-0 loss that night. He realized he’d “tried too much.” Bassitt stated, “You learn as you go.” I would say that my 2022 season with the Mets was a very valuable experience. I didn’t think I handled that moment that well, regretted a lot of things that I did in that game, how I approached that game. The Mets taught me a hard lesson. He hoped that the disappointment he felt would propel him to success. He prayed that he’d get a second chance in October to correct his mistakes, and to be better prepared mentally and physically. Bassitt remembered thinking, “Just give me another chance.” Give me one more shot, whatever that may be.”He couldn’t have envisioned the role it would come in, but Bassitt is now just one game away from winning his first World Series title as a key cog in Toronto’s bullpen.The longtime starter — Bassitt came out of the bullpen just once in his 164 regular-season appearances over the last six years — has thrown 6.2 scoreless innings of relief this postseason for a Blue Jays team that has a chance to celebrate its first championship in 32 years on Friday. “He’s really gone up in the circle of trust,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider told me. His first outing was a bit nondescript. Seattle had us down. But I believe he has earned the right to play anywhere. At this point in the season it’s hard to trust someone, but you have to.Max Scherzer, too, trusted Bassitt during the offseason. The Blue Jays’ ambassador A relationship that began in Queens and has thrived in Toronto. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) Bassitt is not starting games for the Blue Jays in the World Series, but he’s largely responsible for the presence of someone who is. Bassitt, who only spent one year with Scherzer at the Mets before 2022 but now counts him as one of his best buddies, has clicked with Scherzer so quickly that they are close friends. So when Toronto’s front office called Bassitt to let him know about the team’s interest in Scherzer last winter, Bassitt went to work. Bassitt laughed and said, “I chased him hard.” “Yeah. I was calling him quite a few times, perhaps a little more than he liked.But it worked. Bassitt, during the full-court pressing, recalled that Mets 2022 season and his desire to have another crack with Scherzer. He was convincing. Scherzer stated that Scherzer had a good sense of what the clubhouse and team required. We talked a lot during the off-season and, when things started to move in my favor, it seemed like everything clicked that reuniting with him would be great for me, and that this team could go places.”Bassitt thought Scherzer’s style, influence and big-game experience was exactly what the Blue Jays needed. Ross Atkins was warned about his responsibilities by Bassitt. Bassitt stated, “At the very least, I knew the value Max Scherzer brings to a baseball team. I also know that there are many teams who don’t enjoy Max Scherzer because he is so demanding.” “Like, he wants to know every little detail — from outfield positioning to why you’re throwing this pitch to who is playing here to how we control off days. So many organizations, it seems to me, do not like answering questions. They want you to act like a robot, saying things such as ‘Yes, sir,’ You can go on with your daily routine. But that’s not how Max is.”I told Ross. ‘This was going to be a headache for you.’ I then told him to the coaching staff and also the pitching staff. ‘This is a guy that’s going to stir a lot of pots.’ But everyone was on board for it.Scherzer’s influence on the World Series rotation, which includes a 22 year-old rookie who is experiencing it all for the very first time, has spread eight months after he signed the $15.5 million one-year contract in Toronto. “It’s been a crazy year, but being surrounded by vets is a great thing for the future of my career,” said Trey Yesavage, who struck out 12 in a Game 5 win, putting the Blue Jays on the precipice of finishing off the reigning champs. “They’ve treated me the best I could have ever asked for. Going forward with other rookies that come up, I’m going to remember how I was treated when I got here.” Bassitt, meanwhile, is also making an impact in a role he didn’t anticipate. ‘Let’s just go win’ Chris Bassitt has been utilized out the bullpen. The chance Bassitt hoped for and Scherzer expected had to be delayed. When Toronto’s postseason began, both were left off the best-of-five ALDS roster. Scherzer struggled in September with an ERA of over 10.00. Bassitt had a back problem that was affecting him late in the season. It was recommended he heal. They’d be added on in the ALCS, but first a conversation had to take place. Bassitt, who made 31 starts this season for the Blue Jays, was asked to go to the bullpen. He had been second only to Kevin Gausman on the team. Schneider told me that the conversation was simple. “It was, ‘You’re going to pitch out of the pen because we know you can be flexible.’ “And he said,” ‘I don’t care if you start me, I don’t care if you close me, I don’t care where you pitch me, I just want to pitch.’”To be clear Bassitt prefers to play and still sees himself as the starter. He started at least thirty games in each of the past four seasons. In 2021, he was named an All-Star. Bassitt finished in the top 10 in Cy Young voting three times in the last five seasons and comes from an old-school mindset, believing in the importance of a starter’s consistency and ability to work deep into games. The 36-year-old doesn’t think most starters are built to be pitching max effort, the way many of them are trying to do — and taught to do — now. “There’s the unicorns that can do it and stay healthy,” Bassitt said, “but for everyone else, they get hurt.” He believes that a good starter is more valuable than a relief pitcher. Blue Jays required his experience, as their bullpen was volatile and included several rookies. Bassitt accepted a new role. “You just make a decision that, hey, you know, either I’m going to be afraid of this moment or I’m going to welcome it,” Dontrelle Willis, who made a similar switch during the Marlins’ championship run in 2003, said. “And whatever happens happens. Chris Bassitt, who is welcoming the moment, has played a significant role.”Bassitt can no longer grow a rally beard with the starters, but he has the chance to impact — and shorten — more games out of the bullpen. His arm has responded well to the change, and he’s making the most of it as he takes in the game from a new vantage point alongside a different cast of characters. Jeff Hoffman told us that bass was “one of the best we have”. “For him to be able to step out of his comfort zone and go out there and kick it with the guys out there, he’s always a blast to be around, always insightful.” It wasn’t hard for Bassitt to fit in with the relievers. “I’m already kind of like constantly messing around with them, talking crap to them, things like that,” Bassitt told me. “So it wasn’t so much of me coming into like a new team or kind of thing, so to speak. I knew these guys. I knew their jobs, and I understood who they were as people. ‘Hey, I’m here to help y’all, whatever that means…let’s just go win. It doesn’t really matter who does what. Like, I don’t care about your stats. Let’s go win.’”World Series Game 6 Preview: Dodgers on the Brink vs. Blue Jays Big Papi, A-Rod & Jeter Weigh In Bassitt has helped the Blue Jays get to a place they haven’t been since 1993. In his debut in the playoffs, Bassitt retired all five of the batters he faced. He was given a better opportunity in Game 7 against the Mariners, the final game of the ALCS. He entered the game in the 8th inning, a one-run affair. He then threw the perfect frame that preserved the lead. Now, in the biggest stage of his career, he is in his manager’s trust tree. Bassitt has appeared in three of the Blue Jays’ five World Series games, allowing just two baserunners over four scoreless innings. He’s not the typical reliever, sitting in the low-90s in velocity and featuring a plethora of pitches. But his stuff played out over shorter bursts. And his production has proven vital for a struggling bullpen. “He’ll do anything for the guys,” Schneider said. Bassitt wasn’t able to bring a championship to New York three years ago, but that failure led to this moment. Bassitt, Scherzer and their winter dreams are now a reality. Bassitt stated that if there was anyone with whom he would like to win the World Series, it would be Max.”Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He has covered the L.A. Dodgers as well as the LA Clippers, Dallas Cowboys, and LA Clippers. Rowan is an LSU grad. Born in California, raised in Texas and moved to the West Coast again in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner. FOLLOW Customize your FOX Sports experience by following your favorites.
2025-10-31 00:51:20
‘Live and Learn’: 3 Years After Failure, Chris Bassitt Finding His Redemption
