Blue Jays’ Bassitt says closed roof contributed to poor start

Sportsnet gets Up Close with Chris Bassitt, going back to the emotional game with his wife in labour, how he stands up for his teammates, and changing the pitching style after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Chris Bassitt had one of his worst outings of the season on Sunday but the veteran right-hander has a theory for why things went south.

Speaking to reporters after the loss to the Oakland A’s, Bassitt said his pitches were affected by the closed roof at the Rogers Centre.

“Roof closed, completely different than roof being open, wasn’t really ready for it,” Bassitt said. “I had to completely change my mechanics to kinda get the movement I wanted.”

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Bassitt allowed seven runs on eight hits over four innings against his former team, but six of those runs came in the first inning when Oakland sent 11 batters to the plate.

It’s the second time in his last three starts that Bassitt has only lasted four innings. His worst start of the season came in April, when he also allowed seven runs and was pulled after 2.2 innings against the Dodgers.

For the season, Bassitt has a 4.30 ERA in 24 starts.

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