Chris Bassitt believes in the art of pitching

With the Blue Jays a whopping 16 games out of the top spot in the American League East and eight teams ahead of them in the wild-card race, right-hander Chris Bassitt and several other big-name players from Toronto could be traded before the fast-approaching July 30 transfer deadline. It would make a lot of sense for the Blue Jays to move on from Bassitt, a 35-year-old on a contract worth $22 million annually that runs through next season. There are plenty of contenders looking to add to their pitching ranks, and Bassitt would seemingly bring an attractive return.

His track record is that of a reliable starter. Since the start of the 2021 season, Bassitt has posted a 3.43 ERA and a 3.79 FIP while throwing the seventh-most innings in the major leagues. In addition, after a rocky first month (5.64 ERA, 5.55 FIP in his first six starts), he has been at his best since early May. Bassitt has a 2.69 ERA and a 3.02 FIP in his last 13 starts, and he has pitched at least five innings in all of them. Overall, he is 8-7 this season with a 3.52 ERA, 3.73 FIP and 2.0 WAR in 107 1/3 innings.

How does the 10-year veteran approach his craft? I caught up with him earlier this month to find out.

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David Laurila: Would you describe yourself as a pitching nerd?

Chris Bassitt: “I want to understand the art behind it, for sure. I would say it’s more of a fascination just watching the guys. I’ve been lucky enough to be on a team with a lot of guys who are really, really good, and I’ve always liked watching what shots they use, how they use them, who they use them against. Things like that.

“When I have problems with, say, a certain type of hitter, I think back to what I’ve seen other pitchers do in the past and what they’ve done. If that makes me a nerd, then yes.”

Laurel: Do you mainly watch the videos (I’m sure they play a big part) or do you also dig into the data?

Bassitt: “The data isn’t so much. I can look at the game and pretty much tell you what the numbers are going to say. I don’t need the numbers to know that a player’s four-seamer is really good or that a player’s sinker is sinking or running a lot more than normal. You can kind of see that. I would say the data is more for people who can’t watch a game and understand what’s going on. So my stuff is just film. I don’t need the numbers to know what’s going on.”

Laurel: It sounds like you never pay attention to certain metrics when refining your pitches.

Bassitt: “I mean, pitch metrics are all well and good, but the reality of pitch metrics is you’re blessed with this or you’re blessed with that. I can’t get the vertical to 18 to 20 (inches) on my four-seam; I’m not capable of that. If I were to get that, I feel like I’d have to completely change my technique, and changing technique hugely increases the risk of injury and things like that. Your metrics are your metrics, so why worry about it?

“You can tinker a little bit or maybe try to learn a new pitch and see what it’s metrical, but overall, a guy’s fastball is a guy’s fastball (and) his slider is his slider. I don’t need the metric to tell me, ‘Yeah, that’s your slider.’ I know it, man. I know that kind of thing. I can just go out and throw a fastball and tell you what the metric is without knowing it.”

Laurel: That said, you’ve probably tried tweaking the pitches to add either more vertical or horizontal breaks…

Bassitt: “I wouldn’t say tweak the throws. I just added throws. Like I said, I’m a firm believer that your throws are your throws for the most part. Basically, it’s just a matter of, ‘Are they working or are they not working?’ And if they’re not working, there’s only so much you can tinker with them until you cross a very fine line of changing the mechanics. Again, that’s where people get hurt. The risk of potentially tinkering with a throw is not worth the reward. Maybe you make a throw meaner, but after a couple of innings you get hurt. That doesn’t make sense.”

Laurel: What does your entire repertoire currently look like?

Bassitt: “Four-seam, sinker – I can make my two-seamer more like a real sinker – cutter, slider, curve, sweeper, changeup, splitter. I think that’s it.”

Laurel: That’s a lot of parking spaces…

Bassitt: “Yeah. I would say I actually have eight or nine pitches that are quite different from each other. In reality, I probably only throw four or five of them against a single hitter, depending on his weakness. For example, some guys hit sinkers really, really well and they hit sinkers really, really badly. You have to understand that; you have to understand the data. There are also mispatterns that you have to look for. It’s, ‘Okay, I can’t miss this guy’ or ‘Okay, I can’t miss this guy.’ But yeah, I have eight or nine pitches that I can use to attack different hitters.”

Laurel: How many pitches did you have in your Major League debut (2014)?

Bassitt: “Essentially two. I was a sinker curveball with a really bad changeup.”

Laurel: From then on, you gradually added more pitches over the years…

Bassitt: “Yeah. I guess I tinkered with the throws, but not in a way where I was like, ‘Hey, I’m trying to adjust the grip’ – or whatever it may be – to throw a different style of pitch. It was more like, ‘I’m having trouble with this type of hitter, so I need to add this type of pitch.’

“I had trouble against lefties in the beginning – they always pounced on my sinker. I had a really hard time throwing sinkers to lefties, so I developed a cutter. Then I developed a sweeper to improve my numbers against righties. I developed a splitter to improve my numbers against lefties. I developed a changeup to improve my numbers against righties.

“It’s always been about staying one step ahead, so to speak. Teams try to adapt to you and you have to always be one step ahead. If they adapt to you – if they adapt completely – your chances of staying in the league for long are very slim. So yeah, I always try to stay one step ahead of the hitters.”

Laurel: You mentioned that you can make your two-seamer more of a sinker. Does that mean you can get more vertical or arm-side movement with it?

Bassitt: “Yes.”

Laurel: For you, it’s mostly a question of feeling; you can pick up a baseball and intuitively influence the movement of the ball.

Bassitt: “Yeah. I know how to throw the ball to make it go a certain way – say, a little more depth or whatever. But overall, it’s more about understanding your throws. I think what’s lost the most in pitching today is the art of understanding, ‘Who are you?’ I watch a lot of games and see a lot of players pitch, and I don’t think a lot of them can really answer that question, ‘Who are you?’ There are a lot of pitchers in today’s game.”

Laurel: A question I’ve asked many pitchers over the years is whether they consider pitching more of an art or a science. Based on this conversation, I’m assuming you’d say it’s more of an art.

Bassitt: “Yeah, and it’s not even close. If you’re just looking for ‘stuff,’ you’re completely misunderstanding the game. At some point, the game will either force you to understand it, or you’ll just be out of the game. You have to understand the art of pitching.”