While Chris Bassitt didn’t want to go into too much detail about the Blue Jays’ problems this season, he was willing to reveal one problem that seemed to be hurting Toronto this year.
During his appearance on “The Chris Rose Rotation,” Bassitt partially blamed the Blue Jays’ lack of planning for their failure to sign Shohei Ohtani.
“The only thing I can say about the Blue Jays this year is that we put $700 million in Shohei Ohtani’s basket and didn’t get him,” Bassitt Rose said during the interview. “That was the reality and I think we really didn’t have an opportunity to get another elite player.”
The Jays pitcher went on to say that teams need multiple superstars to be successful.
“In baseball today, you need three or four superstars,” he said. “Look at the really good teams. They can’t do it with one superstar, they can do it with three or four superstars. It’s just the nature of the game, the way the pitching is, the way the bullpens are set up.”
“If you only have one or two hitters in your lineup, you literally can’t be good, no matter how good the player is. I don’t think that’s possible.”
The Blue Jays have struggled this season, finishing last in the American League East prior to their game against the Reds on Monday.
It was also a tough year for Bassitt individually: He went 9-12 and had an ERA of 4.34 in 25 starts.
The right-hander said the Blue Jays need more power to “protect” Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and that “the pitching has to be a lot better.”
“There are so many things to talk about,” Bassitt said. “I could literally talk about it for 45 minutes, about things that didn’t go so well, but I just don’t think it’s best for this organization to say those things publicly.”
Bassitt later told Sportnet that his comments on the “Chris Rose Rotation” about not signing Ohtani were not meant as an “attack” on the Blue Jays.
