Chris Bassitt: Former Mets 15 Game Winner (2022)

Christopher M. Bassitt was born February 22nd, 1989, in Toledo Ohio.

He was a star pitcher in high school & was recruited to play collegiately. He attended the University of Akron playing for the Akron Zips where he was a closer in his freshman year. In his junior year he was named All-Mac second team. The six foot-five right hander was drafted by the Chicago White Son in the 16th round of the 2011 draft.

MLB Debut: On August 30th, 2014, he made his MLB debut, he took a loss giving up five runs to the Tigers. 

On September 22nd he earned his first career win, as shut out the Tigers in Detroit into the 8th inning. He was 1-1 with a 3.94 ERA in six games.

In December 2014 he was traded with Josh Phegley, Rangel Ravelo & Marcis Sieman to the Oakland A's for Jeff Samardzija & Michael Ynoa.

Bassitt spent six seasons with Oakland, started going 1-8 in 2015. In 2016 he pitched in only six games then needed Tommy John surgery; he would miss the rest of the season & half the 2017 season. 

On June 9th, 2018, he made his first start in two years, he gave up just one run in seven innings to the Royals but took a 2-1 loss to Danny Duffy. He went 2-3 on the year with a 3.02 ERA.

In 2019 Bassitt was 10-5 for the wild card A's, with a 3.81 ERA, striking out 141 batters in 144 innings of work. Oakland would lose the wild card game to the Tampa Rays. In the 2020 Covid19 shortened season he went 3-0 in September winning the Pitcher of the Month Award.

2020 Post Season: In the ALWC aeries he was the winning pitcher in Game #2 holding the White Son to a run in seven innings of work. He opened up the ALDS pitching Game #1, as he gave up three runs to the Astros in four innings of work, taking no decision in the 10-5 loss.

 In 2021 he led the AL in winning % (.750) going 12-4 with a 3.15 ERA. He struck out 159 batters & walked 39 in 157 innings in 27 starts. That season he made his first All Star appearance.

All Star Game: Bassitt pitched the 6th inning of the All-Star Game in Colorado. He gave up a
single to Manny Machado then walked two batters, a passed ball with catcher Mike Zunino led to a run. The AL won the game 5-2.

On May 27th he threw his first career complete game in a 5-0 shut out over the LA Angels. 

Struck in Face with Line Drive: On August 17th he was struck in the face with a line drive off the bat of Chicago's Brian Goodwin & had to leave the game on a stretcher. His wife & his parents were in attendance at the game. They met him in the ambulance & went to the hospital with him.

He missed a month of action then returned on September 23rd pitching three scoreless innings vs. Seattle.

On March 12th, 2022, the A's traded Bassitt to the New York Mets for J.T. Ginn & Adam Older.

Mets Career: In his Mets debut he got the start in the third game of the season, he shut out the Nationals for six innings striking out eight & allowing just three hits in the Mets 5-0 shut out. In his second start he went to 2-0 with win over Arizona at Citi Field.

On April 20th the Giants got him for five runs, including a HR by Brandon Belt, as he took his first loss. In his next start he was back in top form, shutting out the Cardinals in St. Louis for six innings allowing just two hits, he did walk three & struck out six in the Mets 3-0 shut out.

On May 2nd he gave up three runs to the Braves in seven innings of work, striking out eight but
he took a loss to Max Fried. On May 8th he was the winning pitcher in the 2nd game of a double header with the Phillies allowing just a run in 5.1 innings of work lowering his ERA to 2.45 It would be over a month until he earned his next win. 

Mets Injuries: When Mets catcher James McCann went down with injury, Bassitt felt there was an adjustment period with backup catcher Tomas Nido. On May 19th Max Scherzer went on the IL, now with both he & Jacob deGrom out the Mets looked at Bassitt as being the ace of the staff. He went 2-3 in that time with four no decisions.

During those no decisions he had a horrific game in San Francisco where he gave up eight runs, including three HRs, two to Tommy LaStella & one to Joc Pederson in a wild 13-12 Mets loss in San Francisco. He had given up five HRs in his last two starts, 12 runs in 10.2 innings pitched. On June 8th he gave up seven runs in San Diego taking his fourth loss to get to 4-4 with a 4.48 ERA.

On June 14th he finally got a win, as he shut out the Brewers at Citi Field for eight innings, while walking one & striking out seven. In his next start at Citi Field, he gave up three runs to the Marlins in 6.1 innings of work, taking a loss to Sandy Alcantara who held the Mets to two runs while striking out eight in eight innings of work. On June 25th he beat the Marlins in South Florida, although he gave up a pair of HRs, the Mets Pete Alonso hit two HRs to lead the Mets to a 5-3 win.

He missed a week of action, testing positive for Covid although he felt fine with no symptoms.
When he returned, he faced the Marlins for the third straight time, although he gave up just two runs, he was the losing pitcher in the 5-3 loss.

 On July 13th in Atlanta, he kept the Braves to just one run in six innings, striking out six walking two as the Mets went on to a 7-6 win getting Bassitt to 7-6 with a 3.76 ERA in the first half of the season, as the Mets were 58-35 & 2.5 games up in first place.

In his first start after the All-Star break on July 23rd, he struck out a season-high 11 batters & gave up just two runs to the Padres, but Blake Snell & the San Diego bullpen held the Mets to just a run in the 2-1 Mets loss as Bassitt fell back to .500 at 7-7.

From August 3rd to September 7th, Bassitt went 6-0 allowing one run or less four times in that stretch. First, he shut out the Nat's in seven innings, then on August 8th allowed just one run to the Reds in a 114-pitch game, as he struck out eight.

Quotes- Chris Bassitt: "My job is always that, to eat innings. It's not punch guys out or anything like that. It's just eat innings."

Bassitt then went on to beat the Phillies twice, once at Citi & the other in Philly, holding them down to two runs over 11 innings to get his record to 11-7 while lowering his ERA to 3.26. 

 As September began the Mets took two of three in a big series with the Dodgers, that everyone was convinced was to be a preview of the NLCS, but it didn't turn out that way. In any event the Dodgers too the first game, the Jacob deGrom & Bassitt took the next two.  Bassitt held L.A. to two runs on six hits in six innings of work for his 12th win, as the Mets held a three-game lead over Atlanta.

On September 7th the Mets were now tied for first place, with Bassitt facing the Pirates in Pittsburgh in a big game. He held the Bucs down to a run in seven innings & struck out ten, reaching double figures for the second time on the year in K's. The Mets went on to a 5-1 win going a half game up in first place.

Bassitt would take a loss to the Cubs on September 12th, then return to beat the Pirates again, shutting them out for six innings while striking out eight. 

On September 23rd in Oakland, he earned his 15th win of the year, beating his old A's teammates 9-2, holding them to two runs in eight innings of work, allowing six hits a walk & a HR to Dermis Garcia. The Mets were powered by Eduardo Escobar's grand slam HR. The win kept them 2.5 games up in front of Atlanta.

Bassitt made his last start of the year in Atlanta in the Mets disastrous final weekend. The Mets came to Atlanta up by just one game in the East & left two games out as they were swept by the Braves. Atlanta had beaten both deGrom & Scherzer in the first two games. In the Sunday final game, Bassitt gave up four runs led by Dansby Swanson's 25th HR of the season, in 2.2 innings of work as he took the loss.

On the season Bassitt went 15-9 (5th most WINS in the NL) with a 3.42 ERA. He struck out 167
batters walked 49 in 181.1 innings of work in 27 starts. He gave up 15 HRs / 0.941 per nine innings (10th best in the NL) & hit 13 batters with pitches (5th most in the NL)

Post Season- NLWC: In the final game of the NLWC series Bassitt went up against the Padres Joe Musgraves. Musgraves shut out the slumping Mets for seven innings. 

In the top of the 2nd, Josh Bell singled, after getting the next two outs Bassitt walked two batters & gave up a two-run single to Austin Nola. 

In the 4th another RBI single to Trent Grisham was all San Diego needed to win the game & take the series.

At the end of the season, he opted out of his contract & went to free agency signing a three-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Post Mets Career: In his Blue Jays debut, he was shelled for nine runs on ten hits in St. Louis, exiting the game in the 4th inning taking the loss. After falling to 1-2 he threw 6.1 shutout innings in Houston for his second win.

Shut Out: On May 12th, Bassitt tossed a complete game two hit shutout defeating the Atlanta Braves. It was the second shut out of his career, the last one thrown in 2021 with Oakland. 

It was the first Blue Jays complete game shutout since Mark Buehrle threw on in 2015.

On May 17th, he shut out the AL New York team for seven innings combining for a 3-0 shut out.
On June 2nd, he faced his old Mets teammates at Citi Field shutting them out into the 8th inning, in another combined shut out for his sixth win.

At the break he was 8-5 for the third place Blue Jays who were seven games out. In the second half of the season, Bassitt went 8-3 posting a 2.83 ERA in 14 starts. From August 30th thru the end of the season he won four of his last five decisions. On August 30th he shut out the Nationals for eight innings & ended the season shutting out the AL New Yorkers for 7.2 to earn his career high 16 wins helping his team win a wild card spot. 

2023 Post Season: He did not get a chance to pitch in the AL Wild Card series.

Bassitt led the American League with 16 victories. He led the Jays pitching staff with the 16 wins, 176 innings pitched & 33 starts. He was seconds on the staff with a 3.60 ERA (9th in the AL) & 186 strike outs (10th in the AL). He walked 59 batters allowing 28 HRs.

Career Stats: In a nine-year career he is 62-42 with a 3.49 ERA, striking out 857 batters & walking 287 in 937.1 innings in 169 games, making 156 starts. 

Family: Chris proposed to his wife Jessica in a castle in Napa Valley. Jessica is a certified holistic coach. They have two daughters.

Chris is from Ohio & is an NFL Cleveland Browns fan.