TORONTO – Kevin Gausman needed a minute to get back up to speed on the lore of World Series Game 7, and his potential part in it.
He stands just 6 feet, 2 inches, not 6-10, and throws right-handed, not a southpaw. Nobody will ever accuse the Toronto Blue Jays ace of resembling Randy Johnson, the Hall of Fame left-hander who famously served as the closer in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, earning the save one night after getting the win in Game 6.
Zero days rest. Gaus, what do you think?
‘I’m in. Hell yeah,’ Gausman, who pitched six superb innings in Game 6, tells USA TODAY Sports. ‘I gotta go get ready for it, though. I gotta go (ice and heat) and do some things before I leave tonight to put myself in position to be ready.
‘But yeah, whatever they need, I’m all hands on deck.’
The call to arms is necessary because the Los Angeles Dodgers’ six-batter, third-inning blitz of Gausman provided all their scoring in a 3-1, Game 6 victory, and because a ninth-inning Blue Jays rally got short-circuited by a baserunning gaffe.
Gausman pitched gallantly otherwise, retiring the side in order in his other five innings and throwing 93 pitches, but in a Game 7, the leashes will be shorter for both clubs, the strategy even more granular.
What can we expect once the final baseball game of the year jumps off shortly after 8 ET Saturday night? Only that little is guaranteed.
For starters: Mad Max in a Game 7 sequel
This much we do know: The last man to start Game 7 of the World Series for the winning club will have the ball in his hands again.
Yet what can Max Scherzer – the 41-year-old version of Mad Max – provide the Blue Jays?
The recent returns are, well, OK.
Scherzer ran the leadoff leg for the Blue Jays in the 18-inning, nearly seven-hour Game 3 marathon. He recorded 13 outs capably, but yielded home runs to the Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández. He nodded his head in agreement when manager John Schneider came to get him in the fifth inning, a 180 from his rage against the analytics machine when Schneider checked on him in ALCS Game 4.
Scherzer will be on tilt from the first pitch. Heck, outfielder Myles Straw said after Game 6 that Scherzer already had his game face on. Yet against a Dodgers lineup that found a modicum of footing in Game 6, he may not like it when Schneider comes a-callin’ early in Game 7.
The Ohtani Rules
What a fascinating dynamic: Shohei Ohtani loves routine, and his two-way playing brilliance demands that full rest makes him at his best. Yet here we are, World Series Game 7 and the Dodgers’ projected starter, Tyler Glasnow, had to record three outs to save the day in Game 6.
OK, so it only required three pitches. But Glasnow, too, is a creature of habit, and the Dodgers will go to bed after Game 6 not knowing how Glasnow may respond for Game 7.
That makes Ohtani starting almost a given. Why? Well, the designated hitter rules revised to accommodate Ohtani (and any other unicorns who may follow in his footsteps) decree that if he starts a game, the Dodgers will not lose their DH privileges even when he comes out. That’s not the case later in the game, when L.A. might be tempted to use Ohtani in relief to put out a fire or take down a dangerous pocket of hitters to begin an inning.
Or, serve as the closer. Yet should he give up a game-tying run, it would further handcuff the Dodgers in extra innings.
So, expect it to be Sho-and-Go for L.A.
Fresh starts
Hey, we all love the ’12 guys with their spikes on in the bullpen’ fire station mentality of a Game 7. Yet there’s a real good chance we’ll see many, or even a majority, of starters as Game 7 unfolds.
A quick usage report, in order of ostensibly most rested:
Shane Bieber, RHP, Blue Jays: Pitched 5 1/3 innings, throwing 81 pitches in winning Game 4 on Oct. 28. He will be on three days’ rest. He has not pitched in relief since 2019, and never in the playoffs.
Ohtani, RHP, Dodgers: Started opposite Bieber and threw 93 pitches over six innings, giving up a home run to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He has not pitched on three days’ rest in the big leagues.
Trey Yesavage, RHP, Blue Jays: Pitched seven innings, striking out 12 in epic Game 5 victory to put Toronto up 3-2 in the Series. Has just eight games of major league experience, none in the bullpen. Would be pitching on two days’ rest. Yet is barely a year removed from college baseball, where starting on Friday and closing on Sunday might be de rigueur if the ol’ ballcoach demands it.
‘After I was done, I was like, ‘What’s next?’’ Yesavage said late Saturday night of his Game 5 heroics. ‘I was hoping we could take care of business and it wouldn’t be a question.
‘But here we are. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.’
Blake Snell, LHP, Dodgers: Pitched fairly well opposite Yesavage in Game 5, once he got past the two homers given up on his first three pitches, and will also be on two day’ rest. Snell lasted into the seventh inning, but the ask would be far less in Game 7. Has zero relief appearances in the regular season, but pitched out of the bullpen twice in the 2019 ALDS against Houston. Could be tempting to use in an extended pocket against Torontos Nos. 5-9 batters, which include left-swinging Daulton Varsho, Addison Barger and Andrés Giménez.
Gausman, Blue Jays and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, RHP, Dodgers: The Game 6 combatants. We’ll see how Gausman’s contrast therapy turns out come mañana. ‘Everyone that is active on the roster,’ says manager John Schneider, ‘will be available to pitch. Maybe even Kev.’
As for Yamamoto, the Dodgers’ $325 million prized arm and Game 2 and Game 6 winner? Not so much. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said everyone was available, yet when asked about Yamamoto, replied, ‘Not Yamamoto. Sorry.’
No worries. Yamamoto’s not about to be accused of being a slacker by anyone. We hope, anyway.
The leverage guys
It’s almost not even worth pondering whether the throw-til-you-blow sickos in the bullpen are available. Yeah, they all are.
But for kicks, let’s just see how many times these dudes have already thrown in this World Series, and how effective they’ve been, in order of highest leverage:
Blue Jays: Jeff Hoffman – 3 games, 1.09 WHIP, two days’ rest; Chris Bassitt – 4 games, 0.40 WHIP, no days’ rest; Louis Varland – 4 games, 1.61 WHIP, no days’ rest; Seranthony Dominguez – 4 games, 1.36 WHIP, no days’ rest; Mason Fluharty – 4 games, 2.50 WHIP, no days’ rest.
Dodgers: Rōki Sasaki – 2 games, 2.25 WHIP, no days’ rest; Blake Treinen – 3 games, 3.00 WHIP, two days’ rest; Justin Wrobleski – 3 games, 0.55 WHIP, no days’ rest; Anthony Banda – 4 games, 2.33 WHIP, two days’ rest; Emmet Sheehan – 2 games, 2.67 WHIP, four days’ rest.
The rest
Anyone not yet listed likely played significant roles in the 18-inning Game 3 epic, though only a couple of those guys have gotten into multiple games. Is America ready for another Will Klein-Eric Lauer extra-innings death match, only this time with the entire season on the line?
Can’t imagine the heart can take too much more of that. Which reminds us: Game 7 will absolutely, positively be the final game of Clayton Kershaw’s decorated career. Odds are against him providing us one more October – er, November – memory, though as we’ve seen, the game scripts in this Series have been unpredictable.
‘I feel great. We’re just we’re going to leave it out there,’ says Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. ‘I don’t think that the pressure, the moment’s going to be too big for us.
‘We got to go out there and win one baseball game. We’ve done that all year. Everyone’s bought in. So I don’t know how the game’s going to play out, but as far the moment, winning a game, I couldn’t be more excited to get to sleep and wake up to play a baseball game tomorrow.’
Good luck with the sleep portion of that.