Former Giants ace reaches strikeout milestone

Gausman got Wade to swing through a four-seam fastball for Strikeout No. 1500 of his career. After a nice ovation from the Toronto crowd, Gausman celebrated by striking out Joc Pederson immediately after for Strikeout No. 1501.

After his second stellar season in San Francisco, Gausman left the country to sign a five-year, $110 million deal with Canada's favorite team. Gausman was a combined 17-9 in pandemic-shortened 2020 and 2021, where he finished sixth in the National League Cy Young vote.

He hasn't missed a beat as a Blue Jay, striking out 205 in 174.2 innings last year while walking only 28. He's leading the American League in Fielding Independent Pitching this year after leading last season as well, and he has the most strikeouts in the AL this season.

Gausman truly blossomed in 2020 with the Giants, a year after the Atlanta Braves released him and he had to remake himself as a reliever. The Giants encouraged him to focus on his four-seam and split-finger fastballs, essentially becoming a "two-pitch starter." Since then? 650 strikeouts in 531 innings.

However, Giants opener Ryan Walker and "reliever" Alex Wood actually had more strikeouts than Gausman early, combining for nine Ks through four innings. And while Gausman took a no-hitter into the fifth, the Giants scored off him when the first batter to get a hit, Thairo Estrada, scored on Patrick Bailey's double.

1,500 strikeouts is a great milestone for Gausman. And it's reminder of how sometimes, Farhan Zaidi should have offered a multi-year deal. It's especially evident when the Giants have to start a reliever - this team would be really special with Gausman, whose deal looks like a huge bargain for the Jays.