OverDrive - Bassitt on the Blue Jays' season outlook, his skills on the mound and the additions to the team

Episode Date: February 5, 2025

Toronto Blue Jays Pitcher Chris Bassitt joined OverDrive to discuss his outlook entering the season with the team, the preparation for the mound, the importance of team building, finding improvements from the previous season, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s skill set and more.

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he's preparing for that. And you're convinced, Frank, he athletes in 2025, they're already in game shape. Already. Wow. No one's trying to lose weight. No one's trying to get into the gym last minute and make sure that they're toned dude Let's just say this guy on the line

He's not sweating it out in a sauna trying to shed every last morsel of weight this guy's dialed in and he's ready to go Okay, here's blue jay starting pitcher Chris Bassett back on overdrive. Can you confirm that Chris? You're in tip-top shape and you're ready for the scale ready for the physical day one of spring training yeah I'm always the opposite guy right I get yelled at for being underweight because I'm chasing two kids around and things like that so yeah never too worried about being in shape it's more so trying to get fat okay bad bods so to speak me I heard you talk about Lucas so I'm trying to be more like Luca that's the play man everyone everyone's trying to be like Dad Bod, so to speak. I heard you talking about Luka, so I'm trying to be more like Luka. That's the play, man. Everyone's trying to be like Luka now, right?

Especially in LA, he's got Hollywood. Yeah, the Dad Bod, I guess that would be a thing, right? Are you familiar with the skinny Dad Bod? You know what that means? Like the skinny fat guy? Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is that how you define your own body type, Chris?

I wish I could have a belly. I somehow my metabolism is still going. So, okay. So far, nothing there. I'm jealous, man. I got two kids and it's, that's an issue for me, but I'm not reporting to camp again in, uh, in 10 days. And as you get closer to spring training again, February 13, next Thursday, you guys will arrive in Duned are arriving Dunedin what with the turnover that comes every single year now you got Scherzer rolling through town you got Jimenez coming in you got Santander you've got you know all this all these moves Jeff Hoffman obviously Garcia's back like as a veteran in the clubhouse how much of you know early in the spring is about just relationships and about seeing the guys,

getting used to having new guys around. How much of the preparation, at least early in spring, is about the camaraderie and team building? Yeah, I mean, obviously I would say the biggest thing through spring is just, we obviously have an older group. So I would say the biggest thing is like you said, kind of improving relationships, growing relationships, but then also just staying healthy and just understanding. We have a veteran group, so I don't think it's going to be an issue one bit, but

just ramping up the right way and just understanding it's a long, long year. You know, going into your third year now with the Blue Jays, how comfortable do you feel here in the city with your game, how it's evolved? How's your overall feel for Toronto and being a member of the Blue Jays? Yeah, very comfortable. Obviously, me and Pete Walker, we've grown together, understanding each other, understanding kind of what I need, understanding what kind of he needs from me. And then obviously the relationships with all the other starters and all the other players.

So it's nice to just walk into spring training and just have to learn like two or three names or just understanding, so to speak, everyone else in the clubhouse. That's a nice feeling. So Max Scherzer is a guy you're familiar with. You knew him in New York. Obviously, he's an all-time great. You know, he's going to Cooperstown. Having a guy like that, you know, in the rotation, in the clubhouse, arriving in spring,

how much value do you place in the arrival of Max Scherzer? Yeah, massive. He just, he's been there, he's done that, he's a world champion. I think he's a Hall of Famer very, very soon. I think bringing in a guy like of his caliber can only help. I mean, even the veteran guys, like the veteran guys, I think baseball's kind of one of those

things where if you stop learning, so to speak, then you're kind of falling behind. So I think the biggest thing is kind of bringing those guys in that can continue to push you and continue understanding kind of the game more than what you even know. So yeah, I understood a lot of baseball and then I got around him in New York and then all of a sudden I felt like I was a rookie again. So I think he's going to really help not just our pitchers, but like I said, Pete, he's going to help our front office. He's going to help a lot of people out.

And you talked about this being a veteran group and guys leaning on each other. How much talk has there been over the offseason about just getting back into the mix, climbing up the standings? Is there a level of excitement around the group coming into this season? Yeah. I mean, I would say, I mean, obviously there was a lot of pissed off people last year and the reality was I think it was just not so much mad at each other or anything like that. It was more so just mad at the situation. And we fully expected to compete for a World Series, and we just fell short of that. So the reality of it all is, I think, it's just more so excitement

for this year and just getting back to what we kind of think we should be. We're chatting with Blue J starter Chris Bassett. The turnover obviously not only Scherzer, I mentioned Jeff Hoffman's coming in, Garcia's back in the bullpen, you signed Santander. There's a belief that Ross and the front office is still pursuing other guys who are out there in free agency. You know, last year you win 74 games. and the front office is still pursuing other guys who are out there in free agency. You know last year you win 74 games you just said everyone's kind of pissed off you fell short of expectations. The additions that have been made this offseason how much how much value do you

place in them how much better of a team do you believe you guys are on paper today compared to maybe game 162 in September? Yeah I mean a lot lot better. I think it's it's it's kind of night and day. Um, just in the aspect of have obviously Santander is an absolute massive upgrade for kind of what we what we needed and what we were dealing with. Um, and and then obviously adding adding the pieces in the bullpen and and so just like adding Max Scherzer and things like that i mean yeah i think we're we're a much better team we're much better team now than we were well and i should mention Jimenez coming in andreus Jimenez as well as a starter as a pitcher you know a plus plus plus defensive second baseman like how much joy did you take

in hearing that Jimenez will be playing you know second base for you guys this year? Yeah. Yeah I'm a ground ball pitcher. Yeah. Man when we went to Cleveland and saw him play it was like holy moly. I mean I think we could potentially have I don't think it's a stretch at all. I think we have the two best defenders in all baseball with Varsho and him so Luckily we have one in the infield one in the outfield so Yeah, I think it's gonna be a really fun year for the pitchers that just trust in the defense and let them let them kind of Do their thing?

You know we talked about Vlad E so much and you know the the brilliant season that he had last year Vladdy so much and you know the the brilliant season that he had last year. How much from your eye have you seen Vladdy grow from the time that you've gone to Toronto and to you know the end of last season? Yeah I mean it's crazy how good he is and how young he is. There's so much there's so much like back and forth when it comes to baseball when it comes to you think you have the game figured out and all of a sudden it's like the pitchers are like, wait a second, no, we're going to figure you out again. So for him to kind of go to the ups and downs, understanding kind of what he needs off the

field, understanding what he needs training room-wise, strength training wise, and for him just to grow in all those categories so fast at young age, it's very very impressive. I think obviously the sky is the absolute limit for him and what he could possibly become because I mean he's already one of the best players in the world and I think he can be better honestly. In which way do you see that happening? Where do you see him improving which parts of his game? I Would say just everything I think I think the games kind of came so easy to him it's it's kind of one of those things where it's just like He's just doing things he doesn't really understand why he's doing them or how he's doing them

I think all the I kind of think all the greats are somewhat like that. Um or how he's doing them. I think all the grades are somewhat like that. But he's definitely one of those categories where he has the ability and the talent to do things that other people are not able to do. I think the more and more he understands the game where it's, oh, pitchers are trying to do this to me, they're trying to do that to me and just understand every single pitch type and like pitch pitcher like the ups and downs when it comes to VELO and it comes to like spin rate and all that all the nerdy stuff when it comes to baseball once he really starts to kind of dive into all that stuff I think he's gonna be an absolute monster but I already think he is. With Chris Bassett, how much of that do you study in terms of your own performance?

Spin rate, underlying numbers, the obvious ones are in front of you, wins, losses, ERA, strikeouts, walks, all that kind of stuff. But how often do you pursue it in terms of what else is kind of below the surface, so to speak? I would say I kind of do like every three three or four weeks I kind of look at them just to and it's more so just to make sure they're at where they're supposed to be. It's not so much I'm kind of past the point of tinkering now it's refining all my pitches I know I have a whole bunch of them but now it's more so just making sure my sinker movement is correct,

making sure just all the movements are correct, the arm slots correct, understanding kind of where my body needs to be, understanding how many innings I'm at and what I need to do off the field with the strength staff. But I mean, our strength staff and our basically Hosey, our trainer, and then obviously Scott Weberg, our strength coach, they're unbelievable. And I honestly give a lot of credit to them just because, again, we're an older group, but me, Gauzy, and Berrios have been very, very reliable. And when it comes to every fifth day, we're taking the ball. So yeah, hats off to them just to constantly keep us

in shape and keep us kind of where we need to be. You throw a lot of different types of pitches. I remember that being the storyline when you got to Toronto. And now that you're going into your third year, you still kind of sticking with the big variety or is there something different on the menu for Chris Bassett this year? No, I just kind of alluded to I

think it's more so just refining our pitches. I don't think adding a pitch anymore is a good idea. Now it's just, like I said, refining and making sure they're all correct. I think adding more is just gonna take away from something else. And I think less is more kind of at this career. Rather than adding, I mean, we could easily see something from a subtraction point rather than an addition point. Well, Chris, we're getting close, man.

Pitchers and catchers, it's incredible. Like does the off season, does it feel longer or shorter as you go on in your career? No, it felt really long with no kids. Now with two kids, it feels like I blinked in spring training here. So, no, I love the off season, being able to spend time with family, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm itching to get back to playing every day. Absolutely. They'll be here before you know it. Good luck with that and really appreciate you doing this. Thank you Chris. Thank you. There's Chris Bassett of the Toronto Blue Jays.