Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman strikes perfect tone with subtle, classy Bo Bichette gesture

Toronto Blue Jays' veteran Kevin Gausman knew exactly what to do in the moment. Toronto's starting pitcher from Tuesday's game (Jun. 30) against the New York Mets allowed the home fans to have a special moment with his former teammate. In Bo Bichette's first at-bat of the game, Gausman made sure that the fans could show their appreciation for their former star shortstop.

As Bichette stepped to the plate, Gausman made the simple gesture of calling time and asking for a new ball, which delayed the pitch clock and allowed the fans to give an extended cheer to Bichette.

It was subtle enough, but the crowd caught on and obliged. Gausman and Bichette had been teammates since the 2022 season, when Gausman signed a five-year deal with Toronto, joining a group that was trying to turn a corner in their window of contention. One of the biggest reasons for that window being opened was the fact that Bichette was a key piece of the team's core.

But that core came up just short of their ultimate goal, with Gausman, Bichette and the rest of the 2025 Blue Jays finishing as the MLB runner ups to the LA Dodgers in the World Series. Bichette left after the season to join the Mets and both teams were thought to be among the favourites to at least be in contention for a deep playoff run. Now, neither team seems poised to even make a the postseason altogether.

Gausman and Bichette can relate to each other's frustrating season's

Despite the fact they no longer play on the same team, both Bichette and Gausman can still bond over the fact that the 2026 season hasn't gone the way they expected. The Mets are buried in the basement of the NL East, 14.5 games back of the division leading Atlanta Braves and the Blue Jays are 11 games back of the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.

Individually, they also both probably feel like they could be contributing more. Gausman had a good start to the year, but entered a rough patch in June. The 35-year-old went 0-4, allowing 23 earned runs in 32 innings. His BB/9 rate was 3.38, much higher than his season rate of 2.14.

Bichette has been the opposite, getting off to a slow start and turning it on lately. Overall this season, he's hit .251/.296/.382 with 10 home runs and has been worth 1.0 fWAR.

Both players would love to be playing better for their individual teams and they both figured that at this point they would've been in a much better position in the overall standings. For Gausman and Bichette there is quite a bit of uncertainty looming over their next moves.

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