Kevin Gausman still has it. The Chicago Cubs banked on that pitching savvy and big-game experience when the club acquired him from the Toronto Blue Jays at this summer\u2019s trade deadline, believing he could replicate his performance during last year\u2019s World Series run.<\/p>\n
The Cubs are 5-1 in Gausman\u2019s six starts since the deal that cost them center fielder Brett Bateman and Class-A infielder Ty Southisene, two midrange prospects. Though Gausman\u2019s outings have varied in effectiveness (4.37 ERA), the flashes of dominance and overall body of work have left little doubt that he should be operating near the front of Chicago\u2019s potential playoff rotation, perhaps as the Game 2 starter following Clay Holmes.<\/p>\n
The upside was easy to see in Thursday\u2019s 2-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field, where Gausman limited the National League\u2019s best team (by winning percentage) to one run over seven innings. Gausman had already beaten the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 24, putting together seven shutout innings against a playoff contender the Cubs could face in the wild-card round.<\/p>\n
Gausman, who will be 36 next year, said he wants to play next season, making him an intriguing option for a Cubs team that likely has five upcoming free agents in its current rotation: Holmes, Gausman, Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga and David Peterson.<\/p>\n
Two factors to consider: 1.) The anticipated lockout when this collective bargaining agreement expires. And 2.) Whether the Cubs end this season with a championship parade.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be honest, I really haven\u2019t thought too much about it,\u201d Gausman said. \u201cThere\u2019s obviously a lot of question marks going into next year, but the focus is this team right now and giving whatever I got for these guys and this organization. Whatever happens after this season, I kind of feel like I\u2019m playing with house money.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second half of my career has been such a blessing that I didn\u2019t necessarily expect. So with that, I\u2019ve played with a lot of guys that didn\u2019t have the choice to say when they\u2019re done. We\u2019ll see what happens, but hopefully it\u2019s with a ring.\u201d<\/p>\n
The winding pursuit of Gausman lasted so long that Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer described him as a \u201cwhite whale.\u201d<\/p>\n
How a 90-mile stretch could decide the World Series<\/p>\n
Ken Rosenthal<\/p>\n
As Theo Epstein\u2019s longtime general manager, Hoyer was a driving force behind the deal that sent Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger to the Baltimore Orioles for Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop in 2013, which coincided with Gausman\u2019s major-league debut.<\/p>\n
The Orioles had selected Gausman with the No. 4 pick in the 2012 draft out of LSU. Arrieta\u2019s evolution into a Cy Young Award winner and Strop\u2019s emergence as a top reliever made the Cubs curious whether Gausman would benefit from a similar change of scenery.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn today\u2019s age, it\u2019s impossible to ignore those things,\u201d Gausman said. \u201cEvery person that I knew that was a Cubs fan definitely (let me know about) any article that was written where my name was involved, even going back to around 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe there were some rumors about (Javier) B\u00e1ez and maybe some other guys with me, and maybe some guys in Baltimore. There were some crazy rumors, for sure. You never know what\u2019s actually true and what\u2019s not true. But, yeah, it was always there. It\u2019s funny, when I told my wife, \u2018Hey, we just got traded to the Cubs,\u2019 she kind of jokingly said: \u2018It\u2019s about time.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
In buzzer-beater deals ahead of the lockout following the 2021 season, the Blue Jays splurged to sign Gausman to a five-year, $110 million contract while the Cubs gave Marcus Stroman a three-year, $71 million deal.<\/p>\n
By that point, Gausman had already been traded to the Atlanta Braves at the 2018 deadline and selected off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds during the 2019 season. The San Francisco Giants then signed him to a one-year, $9 million contract for 2020 and retained him with a qualifying offer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it wasn\u2019t Jed, it was Theo,\u201d Gausman said. \u201cScott Harris was here as well (as a Cubs executive back then). Scott Harris picked me up with the Giants, and that was one of the first things he said: \u2018We were always trying to get you in Chicago.\u2019 It\u2019s kind of always been a crazy thing that is even crazier now that I\u2019m finally here in my 14th year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gausman filters the accumulated information and observations into his routine, game plans and clubhouse interactions. The durability, swing-and-miss stuff and unique approach when he\u2019s on \u2014 the fastball\/splitter combination forces the hitter to pick one or the other \u2014 has resulted in more than 2,100 strikeouts over nearly 2,100 career innings.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a good energy guy,\u201d Cubs catcher Carson Kelly said. \u201cHe wants the ball. You can see that every inning. It just seems like he gets stronger and stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gausman kept pitching all the way to Halloween last year, when he posted two quality starts against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. His presence is obvious to new teammate Michael Conforto, a veteran hitter who earned a World Series ring with the Dodgers last year. Although Conforto wasn\u2019t on the active roster during the postseason, he saw up close what Gausman meant to Toronto\u2019s resilience.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe reads swings so well,\u201d Conforto said. \u201cHe\u2019s got great command. That splitter is devastating. And then he has the postseason pedigree and experience. He knows what those feelings and those situations are like. I watched the way that the Dodgers tried to prepare for him, and he diced them up.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what the Cubs hope this is building toward, even if winning the division and earning a first-round bye appears to be out of reach after splitting a four-game series against the first-place Brewers.<\/p>\n
\u201cPitching plays in the postseason,\u201d Gausman said. \u201cOnce you get to that point, it\u2019s all hands on deck. It doesn\u2019t matter what you did in the regular season. If you made 34 starts, you might have to go to the bullpen. If you\u2019re healthy enough and you pitched three days ago, you\u2019re ready to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose guys that want the ball at that time of year, they can kind of make legends of themselves, the Madison Bumgarners and (Yoshinobu) Yamamotos.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cubs do not have that kind of singular force on their pitching staff; Yamamoto earned the victory in three of the four wins the Dodgers needed against the Blue Jays to defend their World Series title. But Holmes, Gausman and Matthew Boyd would be a credible rotation in a best-of-three series. There\u2019s still time for Cubs manager Craig Counsell to figure out the back end of the bullpen and restore confidence in certain relievers.<\/p>\n
All-Star center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong might be the sport\u2019s best player right now. Gold Glove shortstop Dansby Swanson\u2019s eventual return from an oblique injury would elevate the club\u2019s defense back to best-in-class.<\/p>\n
When the team is closer to full strength, the Cubs should have their deepest bench in years. Kelly and Miguel Amaya are more like 1 and 1A catchers than players in different tiers. Conforto is a solid left-handed-hitting option for particular matchups. Tyrone Taylor can shift all over the outfield. Pedro Ram\u00edrez and Matt Shaw are young, versatile defenders who could become more prominent in October.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou also need guys who can play multiple positions because the manager\u2019s going to be asked to make tough decisions,\u201d Gausman said. \u201cLast year in the World Series, we played an 18-inning game. You only have two catchers. When do you pull that catcher and go with the backup? Do you have to move Ernie Clement to an outfield position? There are so many things.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe good thing about this roster is you have a lot of guys who can (move around). You need pitching and defense, and you need timely hitting. This club seems like they have what they need. It\u2019s just a matter of putting it all together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kevin Gausman still has it. The Chicago Cubs banked on that pitching savvy and big-game experience when the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":837358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[479,363,99],"class_list":["post-837357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}