Chris Bassitt

Position: SP B/T: R/R
Age: 35 (02/22/1989)

2024 Traditional Stats: 20 GS, 8-8, 114 IP, 3.71 ERA, 1.421 WHIP, 8.4 SO/9, 3.6 BB/9
2024 Advanced Stats: 0.9 bWAR, 109 ERA+, 4.22 xERA, 3.84 FIP, 4.19 xFIP, 21.3 SO%, 9.3 BB%, 0.8 HR/9

Rundown

Mets fans know Chris Bassitt well. He, along with Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer, formed a formidable trio atop the 101-win Mets’ rotation in 2022. Still, fans probably don’t remember him too kindly due to his struggles in a critical series against the Braves late in the year and then again in the Wild Card round against the Padres.

Those performances overshadowed an otherwise brilliant season in which Bassitt went 15-9 with a 3.42 ERA. After the season, he signed a three-year, $63 million contract with the Blue Jays. He is currently in his second year of the deal and is set to be a free agent after the 2025 season.

Bassitt is a rare breed of pitcher in that he’s a workhorse. He has been since 2021, when he started 27 games for the A’s in what was the only year of his career he’s been selected as an All-Star. He started 30 or more games each of the following two seasons and is on pace to do so again this year, having started 20 games through the team’s first 100 games of the year.

Not only is Bassitt an innings eater, which the Mets would greatly appreciate, but he’s also a quality pitcher. After he posted 15 wins and a 3.42 ERA with the Mets, he posted 16 wins with a 3.60 ERA in his first year as a Blue Jay, and he currently has eight wins with a 3.71 ERA this year.

One area of concern for Bassitt in 2024 is that he’s allowing a career-high 9.2 hits per nine innings and a career-high 3.6 walks per nine innings if you don’t count seasons where he only pitched a limited number of innings. That’s led to a whopping 1.421 WHIP, a drastic increase from the last several years, when his WHIP typically ranged between 1.000 and 1.200.

Bassitt also has a below-average strikeout rate, and he does not get batters to chase or swing and miss. What’s helped him, though, is his ability to limit hard contact. He ranks in the 83rd percentile for average exit velocity.

Mets fans will remember Bassitt has an impressive pitch mix, utilizing up to eight distinct pitches. His three most-used pitches this year have been a low-90s sinker (41%), a low-90s cutter (20%) and a low-70s curveball (14%). He also mixes in a sweeper, a splitter, a changeup, a slider, and a four-seamer, each of which he throws less than six percent of the time.

Package

Bassitt is aging and is on a pretty expensive deal. Considering he’s still under contract for 2025 and has been effective despite his less-than-stellar peripherals, the Blue Jays might be inclined to keep him. That means the Mets will have to offer an enticing deal.

Mets Receive:

  • Chris Bassitt (RHP)

Blue Jays Receive:

Recommendation

The Mets might not want to trade a prospect the quality of Tidwell, but Bassitt’s effectiveness and longevity would help both the rotation and the bullpen. Both areas need it, with the bullpen being largely ineffective and the rotation losing Christian Scott, who was recently placed on the injured list.

If the Mets are serious about Bassitt, David Stearns should talk to Jeremy Hefner, Bassitt’s pitching coach in 2022. He’s one of the only members of the coaching staff remaining from that season, and he knows Bassitt well. Hefner would advise Stearns to stay away if there are any concerns with him.

If there are no concerns, it would be a smart trade for a club that fully expects to be in the Wild Card race until the end. Fans may not like it initially, but Bassitt would be a big help.