"It's an organizational issue" - Kevin Gausman opens up on Blue Jays' 2024 struggles, highlights lacking depth as cause for team collapse (Exclusive)

When Kevin Gausman took to the field for the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on Friday night, he was one of just four players who had been present on his club's opening-day roster. Surrounded largely by players who began the season in Triple-A, Gausman made his 22nd start of the year.

After the game that saw Gausman pitch 4.2 innings, Dan Connolly from Sportskeeda caught up with the former All-Star to get his opinion on why his team has struggled this season. According to the 33-year-old, lack of depth has made it difficult for the Jays to stack up against other teams, as Gausman told Connolly:

"I think it’s an organizational issue. I think depth right now, we just don’t have it. We don’t have much depth in the minor-league system. That might be a little different after the trades from the deadline. I’ll have to look at it.

But we put ourselves in a hole. We’ve had some injuries with our prospects. And some guys who were expecting bounce-back years haven’t bounced back. I, myself, am having a down year. I am part of that myself."

As part of his measured analysis, Kevin Gausman questioned the depth of the Toronto Blue Jays. After a busy deadline that saw the team deal MLB talents like Yusei Kikuchi, Kevin Kiermaier, and Justin Turner, most of the club is now staffed by players who began the season in Triple-A Buffalo such as Spencer Horwitz, Davis Schneider, and Ernie Clement.

In light of Friday's performance that saw Gausman surrender four earned runs in four innings against the New York Yankees, the 33-year-old also shouldered some of the blame. Now 9-8, Gausman's 4.56 ERA is his highest figure since 2019, and his 18 homers allowed puts him on pace for a career-high in the category.

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Despite touting the ninth-highest payroll in MLB, the Blue Jays are not making the postseason in 2024. Now 51-59, Gausman's club is last in the AL East, currently some 13.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles.

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Despite his obvious contention that the Jays are struggling, Gausman also remained optimistic in his comments to Connolly, as he continued:

"It’s where we are at, and we are trying to figure out, with the new guys we have on this team, the younger guys, what kind of team we’re gonna be going forward. We’ve been playing pretty good baseball for the last month and these guys have been fun to watch, honestly. We’ll see what happens. A lot of things can happen from now. We go 15-5 in the next 20 games, and it’ll put us in a different situation."

If the Jays want a chance at doing something this season, Gausman and his teammates will need to kick things into a different gear quickly.