To say things didn’t go as Anthony Bass planned last October would be an understatement.
Pass, who entered the game trying to preserve a four-run lead in the top of the eighth inning, threw 13 pitches, didn’t record an out and was promptly hooked three batters later in the blink of an eye.
It was the start of their blowout postseason loss to the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 2 at the hands of the Seattle Mariners. Unfortunately, Baz’s involvement marred what had been a spectacular individual campaign for the 35-year-old veteran, and the disappointment sent the right-hander on an extended layoff in search of a mental refresh.
“I’ve been away from the game,” Bass said as he prepares for his 12th major league season this spring in Dunedin, Florida. Step away from the game and mentally clean it up.
“I’ve definitely experienced a bit of failure in my career, but that much? Probably not at all. The last game of the year didn’t go well, and that was probably one of the low moments.”
It’s a feeling felt by everyone involved, and Wladimir Guerrero Jr. said he didn’t talk about it in the clubhouse this spring as they tried to get over it.
Whether it’s a young player with relatively little playoff experience like Guerrero Jr. or Bo Pichet, or a seasoned veteran like George Springer, it won’t be much less than this past Oct. 8 at Rogers Center.
Trailing by seven runs at one point, the M’s comeback is second only to the Philadelphia A’s who erased an eight-run deficit in the 1929 World Series.
It ended in carnage, a meltdown pass that was one of Jordan Romano’s worst outings in a long time, as well as an ugly collision in left-center field between Pichet and Springer.
“I don’t need to see the video,” Bass noted. «I remember all his scenes. I don’t need to go back and look.
“I’m excited to put that behind me and learn from those two games in Toronto,” he added. “I think this team, more or less, needs to be beaten so we can get to that point in the postseason where we’re ready next time, to learn from the mistakes we all made in those two games. Is.”
Despite a rocky final outing, the Blue Jays had no intention of earning the $3 million club option on the trade until 2023, returning the right-hander to another major late-inning role for manager John Schneider.
The 2022 resume is impressive. Bass posted a career-best 1.54 ERA thanks to 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings.
Throwing that pitch 55.7 percent of the time, the slider produced an incredible 43.8 rate and held hitters to a paltry .180 average and .324 slugging percentage.
It’s no coincidence, and the Blue Jays saw their 2018 first-round pick Jordan Croshans take on the Miami Marlins at the August deadline, acquiring Paz and right-hander Zach Popp as bullpen backup.
“It started in the season before 2022,” Bass said. “Miami pitching coach Mel Stottlemire Jr. presented me with a good plan for me to succeed. The year before he had really struggled hitting against left-handed hitters. There was a lot of focus on trying to get more out of lefties.” constantly, and shifted my focus to them. Lots of work to do. Even though I had to, I actually improved from the year before.
Combining his down-and-miss slider with his ground-out sinker sparked a year of pass rushing, but the future free agent feels he still has an adjustment or two in the tank.
That starts with his streak of hitting against lefties, hitting .433 early on during his career.
“I entertained myself trying to create a little more movement on my fastball, but quickly found that it was my fastball and I couldn’t create much more movement down the field based on my arm slot,” Bass said of what he said. is doing. been working through the winter once he’s back on the mound. “I think I had a good game plan last year. [with that pitch] It worked, so implementing the game plan would allow me to win again.
“I’m not going to give away all my secrets, but the location of the courses, one of them, and the sequence of the shots, are the parts of the zone where some of my courses play better than others, especially against lefties. delivered hitters. But at the end of the day, it’s about execution in high performance situations, and I do that. I can still continue.
Five months after the loss to the Ms, the Blue Jays’ bullpen returns largely intact, with only freshman Erik Swanson expected to start the season among the eight-armed group. The late-inning leverage group of Romano, Tim Maiza, Yimi Garcia, Adam Simper and Bass will feature in similar roles, with Bass working hard in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings against hard righties.
While it lacks the name value and high-end speed of other pens around baseball, this is a diverse group that has been mostly solid in 2022, with a combined 3.77 ERA, good for ninth of 15 teams in the league. American.
A full season of throwing the pass like he did last year, as well as Swanson’s deadly splitter added to the mix, and the whole team hopes they won’t be seen as an Achilles heel. Far.
“He has all the potential to be one of the best bullpens in baseball, there’s no question about that,” Bass said. “We have a lot of different looks, a lot of different arms, a lot of different weapons and a successful bullpen.”
