Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman criticizes umpire Alfonso Marquez on strike calls vs Phillies: "That umpire has the smallest strike zone"

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Kevin Gausman called out umpire Alfonso Marquez following their game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.

The Phillies won 9-4, but the Blue Jays were unhappy with some of the strike calls made by the home plate umpire. Gausman expressed his frustration at the umpire's calls.

In his 24th start of the season against the Phillies, Gausman had a night to forget. He spoke out about his frustrations with homeplate umpire Alfonso Marquez.

The 32-year-old gave up five runs and seven hits in 5.1 innings, recording 4 strikeouts. A frustrated Gausman said that Marquez had the smallest strike zone in the big leagues:

“That umpire has the smallest strike zone in all of the big leagues so you have to kind of know that going in.”

Kevin Gausman is an experienced pitcher who has been around in the MLB for over a decade and been a consistent performer.

He started his major league career with the Baltimore Orioles before going on to play for the Braves, Reds and Giants. He signed for the Blue Jays ahead of the 2022 season and has shown consistent improvement during his time in Toronto, making the All-Star team this year.

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Kevin Gausman remains Cy Young candidate despite stumble against Phillies

While Kevin Gausman has just come out of one of his worst nights of the MLB season, the Toronto Blue Jays' loss against the Philadelphia Phillies was a blot in an otherwise impressive season.

The right-handed pitcher has a 3.24 ERA in 24 games, with 187 strikeouts and 1.16 WHIP. He's undoubtedly among the top five pitchers in the league at the moment, and the rest of the season may well be defined by how he reacts to this setback.

If he comes back stronger, this could be his chance to land his first Cy Yound award.