DUNEDIN, FLA. -- Two hours before first pitch across town at a packed TD Ballpark on Wednesday, Kevin Gausman strolled onto an empty Field 2 at the Blue Jays’ complex.

It was dead quiet, only the crunch of cleats on concrete as a dozen teammates wandered over for a look. It was like catching a glimpse of Gausman in his own backyard, playing catch between sips of his morning coffee. This is how Gausman likes it, at least for now.

Gausman has used these sim games for the past three Spring Trainings since joining the Blue Jays, but it didn’t start as a stroke of grand strategy. In early 2022, a rainout early in camp had thrown off the start day of Gausman and Hyun Jin Ryu, so he threw a sim game against his own hitters to stay on schedule. He felt something he liked, so it stuck.

“After that, I was kind of the back-field warrior,” Gausman said. “Field 2.”

Gausman faced five of his own hitters Wednesday: George Springer, Kevin Kiermaier, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Daniel Vogelbach and Spencer Horwitz. Kiner-Falefa took Gausman deep to center field in a 2-1 count, but Gausman otherwise looked like his dominant self, striking out Springer and Horwitz swinging. Twenty-four pitches later, he was done, a few fist bumps from pitching coach Pete Walker and the pitching staff replacing the cheers he would have gotten at the stadium.

“I think this is a more controlled environment,” Gausman said. “Especially early on, I have the option to have one more batter or say, ‘Hey, I’m done.’ You can control that a bit more here, obviously.”

Last spring, Gausman made his Grapefruit League debut on March 3, which would line up roughly with him pitching in game action his next time through this year. If Gausman wants to roll with another sim game, though, that’s just fine. He understands the big stage as much as anyone and is coming off a third-place finish in AL Cy Young Award voting. At a certain point, you earn the trust to do things differently.

“As many live [BPs] as you can throw in the offseason, it doesn’t compare,” Gausman said. “There’s people watching, too, so you’ve got to take that into consideration. For me, personally, it’s a lot about timing and getting my tap right, making sure my landing leg is hitting when it should be.”

At this point, Gausman isn’t focused on overhauling anything. Why should he be? The 33-year-old has been everything the Blue Jays dreamed of and so much more in the first two years of his deal, an ace on and off the field. There’s always room to tinker, though.

Gausman wants to work deeper into games. Even after throwing 185 innings last season, he thinks a slightly more balanced approach can help him do that, particularly on days his pitch count rises quickly, which is often a product of his strikeout totals.

“I need to throw more sliders to make those pitches even better,” Gausman said. “The games that I do, I can usually go that one extra time through the lineup because they can’t zero in on one or two pitches. They have to keep their mind thinking about other things I might be doing. I started throwing a sweeper at the end of the year that I’ll probably throw a little bit more early in the count.”

Gausman will still play the hits, of course, his fastball and devastating splitter still the stars of the show. These are the small things that great pitchers do each year to stay on top and keep hitters guessing, even when you have a reputation for a pitch that people can’t touch, even when they’re looking for it.

For now, the sneak peeks of Gausman’s greatness are reserved for the handful of pitchers behind a mesh screen, the five hitters plucked to face him and a few Blue Jays teammates who wandered by an empty Field 2 at just the right time.