Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman: Starting Monday, hopes to avoid IL

Gausman (shoulder) will start the Blue Jays' Grapefruit League finale Monday versus the Pirates and expects to throw around three innings or 55 pitches, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Gausman will be making his spring debut Monday after he received the green light to start following a successful side session Saturday. Though the veteran right-hander still won't be fully built up even if Monday's outing goes smoothly, the Blue Jays are optimistic that it will be enough for him to avoid a stint on the 15-day injured list to open the season. Manager John Schneider has already confirmed Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt and Yusei Kikuchi as the starters for the Blue Jays' first three games of the team's season-opening series with the Rays that begins Thursday, while Bowden Francis tentatively lines up to take the hill for Sunday's series finale. That would position Gausman to start the Blue Jays' fifth game of the season, an April 1 road matchup with the Astros. Davidi speculates that he would likely be in line for 65-to-70 pitches in Houston, targeting a more typical starter's workload by his third start of the season.