{"id":840533,"date":"2026-09-08T11:40:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T11:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/840533\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T11:40:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T11:40:11","slug":"kevin-gausmans-soft-cubs-landing-a-potential-pat-murphy-three-peat-and-more-mlb-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/840533\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Gausman\u2019s soft Cubs landing, a potential Pat Murphy three-peat and more MLB notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the flight to Houston when Kevin Gausman learned of his trade to his Chicago Cubs<\/a>, the veteran right-hander was playing cards with fellow Toronto Blue Jays pitchers Max Scherzer, Shane Bieber and Jeff Hoffman.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the worst three hands you can imagine,\u201d Gausman said. \u201cI should have known in that moment something good wasn\u2019t going to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gausman said he lost \u201ca lot of money.\u201d Scherzer recalled, \u201cwe got him good.\u201d And then, about an hour after Gausman left the card game, a Blue Jays staffer came to the back of the plane and summoned him to speak with manager John Schneider.<\/p>\n

It was Aug. 2, the day before the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of knew at that point. I\u2019ve never been called up to the front of the plane before,\u201d said Gausman, a 14-year veteran.<\/p>\n

Gausman said as Schneider informed him of his trade to the Cubs, both he and the manager grew emotional.<\/p>\n

Together, they had been through so much.<\/p>\n

Gausman signed a five-year, $110 million free-agent contract with the Blue Jays in December 2021<\/a>. During his tenure, Schneider progressed from bench coach to interim manager to manager. And last season, the Jays came within two outs of winning the World Series, drawing the pitcher and manager even closer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t necessarily pretty early on, but he\u2019s gotten better and better, the more he\u2019s done it,\u201d Gausman said.<\/p>\n

How a 90-mile stretch could decide the World Series<\/p>\n

Ken Rosenthal<\/p>\n

Upon learning of the trade, Gausman said his thoughts immediately turned to his wife, Taylor, and young daughters, Sadie and Sutton. The family had grown to love Toronto. Leaving, he knew, would not be easy.<\/p>\n

From a playing perspective, Gausman said his first series with the Cubs \u2014 a sweep of the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at Wrigley Field \u2014 helped make the transition easier.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single game was absolutely electric,\u201d Gausman said. \u201cIt took me like two days to kind of flip it from being sad to being excited, to be like, \u2018I have an opportunity to be part of something special here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

When Gausman makes his next start Wednesday in Milwaukee, he will be coming off a brilliant seven-inning performance, also against the Brewers, in which he struck out nine and walked one while allowing only one run. His ERA with the Cubs is 4.37, but his strikeout-to-walk ratio is 38-to-8 and the team has won five of his six starts.<\/p>\n

The card game was a disaster. The trade is working out all right.<\/p>\n

LSU recruiting before Kiffin!<\/p>\n

Almost 15 years ago, Gausman hosted a high school infielder named Alex Bregman at LSU. Gausman chuckled at the memory, describing Bregman as, \u201cyoung and pretty reckless, as most high school kids are on their visit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former major leaguer Joey Gallo also was among the high schoolers sampling campus life, though he ultimately signed with the Texas Rangers as the 39th pick overall in 2012.<\/p>\n

Bregman, when asked about the visit, smiled and said he didn\u2019t remember it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe showed them a good time, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d Gausman said.<\/p>\n

Bregman and Gausman actually never played together at LSU. Gausman left as a draft-eligible sophomore in 2012, going fourth overall to Baltimore. Bregman went second overall to Houston in 2015.<\/p>\n

A three-peat in Milwaukee?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right, an unprecedented third straight National League Manager of the Year award is not out of the question for the Milwaukee Brewers\u2019 Pat Murphy.<\/p>\n

The Brewers need only to finish 9-8 to reach 98 wins and set a franchise record for the second straight year. They\u2019ve produced the best record in the NL with the youngest pitching staff in the majors, getting only nine starts combined from two righties who projected to be stalwarts in their rotation, Brandon Woodruff and Quinn Priester.<\/p>\n

Murphy will face competition for NL Manager of the Year from the Atlanta Braves\u2019 Walt Weiss, who has needed to patch together his rotation behind Chris Sale while also losing right fielder Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. twice to the injured list; and the Philadelphia Phillies\u2019 Don Mattingly, who has guided the team to a 72-44 record since taking over from Rob Thomson, second-best in the majors only to the Brewers in that span.<\/p>\n

\"Brewers<\/p>\n

\n Pat Murphy was named NL Manager of the year in 2024 and 2025. (Norm Hall \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not inconceivable Mattingly could win Manager of the Year and still get replaced by Alex Cora if the Phillies stumble in the playoffs. Cora was president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski\u2019s first choice to replace Thomson. Stranger things have happened: Davey Johnson resigned from the Baltimore Orioles in 1997 on the day he was named AL Manager of the Year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Murphy is one of only four to win the managerial award back-to-back \u2014 the Cleveland Guardians\u2019 Stephen Vogt also has won two straight, and the Tampa Bay Rays\u2019 Kevin Cash and Atlanta Braves\u2019 Bobby Cox did it previously. Vogt this season probably is a longshot in the AL, where Cash, the Chicago White Sox\u2019s Will Venable and Chad Tracy, interim manager of the Boston Red Sox, are all strong contenders.<\/p>\n

Max Muncy\u2019s incredible journey<\/p>\n

Near the end of June, former Athletics general manager David Forst<\/a> approached the Dodgers\u2019 Max Muncy before a game in Sacramento, congratulated him on his career and told him, \u201cWe really blew that decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forst was referring, of course, to the A\u2019s release of Muncy at the end of spring training in 2017. Muncy went on to become a three-time World Series champion and three-time All-Star. But he doesn\u2019t hold a grudge against the A\u2019s, who selected him in the fifth round out of Baylor in 2012.<\/p>\n

Recalling their conversation earlier this summer, Forst said he was struck by how gracious Muncy was about the A\u2019s dumping him, saying in effect, \u201cI didn\u2019t give you guys any reason at that point to believe in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Muncy, now 36, explained: \u201cIt always means a lot to hear someone think they messed up with you. But ultimately, the fault is more on me than it is on them. I didn\u2019t show them I could be a good player.\u201d<\/p>\n

The one thing Muncy said is \u201ca little bit on\u201d the A\u2019s was their belief that he didn\u2019t have a position.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be fair, I didn\u2019t. But they also didn\u2019t give me a chance to grow into a position,\u201d Muncy said. \u201cI had to learn third base and then learn second base basically at the major-league level, when all I had played was first base.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I had to learn left field, had to learn right field. I never had any experience with those, not even in the minor leagues. So, I was trying to learn positions at the major-league level. And ultimately, I played terribly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

\n Max Muncy has won three World Series championships with the Dodgers. (Brad Penner \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

In parts of two seasons with the A\u2019s, Muncy batted .195 with five home runs and a .611 OPS. He has been far more productive in nine years with the Dodgers, and also has evolved into an above-average defender at third base.<\/p>\n

Muncy\u2019s 26 homers entering Monday, second on the club only to Shohei Ohtani\u2019s 30, have moved him into second place on the all-time list for the Los Angeles version of the Dodgers. He is just 35 homers behind Eric Karros, who holds the Los Angeles franchise record at 270.<\/p>\n

Lest anyone forget, Muncy also has hit 16 homers in the postseason, including an 18th-inning walkoff in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series<\/a> and an eighth-inning solo shot<\/a> that pulled the Dodgers within one run in Game 7 of the 2025 Fall Classic, which they won in 11 innings.<\/p>\n

He has more plate appearances in the postseason (328) than he did in total with the A\u2019s (245).<\/p>\n

The roots of Mickey Gasper\u2019s breakout<\/p>\n

Shortly before spring training, Mickey Gasper was claimed on waivers twice within a span of 16 days. It didn\u2019t faze him. Gasper spent the offseason preparing for the opportunity he\u2019s seized with the Boston Red Sox, hitting all eight of his homers in his last 52 at-bats.<\/p>\n

Gasper, who turns 31 next month, played for a month in the tense environment of the Dominican Winter League, then was summoned by Team Italy for the World Baseball Classic after former Red Sox catcher Kyle Teel suffered a strained right hamstring.<\/p>\n

While Gasper didn\u2019t appear in the WBC quarterfinal or semifinal, he said he practiced his breathing in the dugout, trying to feel the stadium, slowing down his heartbeat, talking to the batter as if he would be talking to himself in the box.<\/p>\n

The commitment he showed even while not playing helped him become one of the Red Sox\u2019s many unsung heroes of 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really in the moment in all of those games,\u201d Gasper said. \u201cIt most definitely helped me between the ears.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around the horn<\/p>\n

\u2022 Even after a poor outing against the New York Yankees on Saturday, Robbie Ray\u2019s combined 3.39 ERA with the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres ranked 20th in the majors at the start of the week \u2014 not bad for a pitcher who turns 35 in October.<\/p>\n

Ray credits his success this season to the further development of his changeup, an offering he added in 2025 after consulting with the pitch\u2019s leading practitioner, Tarik Skubal.<\/p>\n

Matthew Boyd, a fellow lefty and former teammate of both pitchers, connected Ray with Skubal, who shared his grip on his changeup. Ray threw the pitch 13 percent of the time last season, but has upped that usage to 19 percent this year. His delivery and arm action are different than Skubal\u2019s, so he had to tinker with his grip and mechanics until he found a greater comfort level with the pitch.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Brewers are headed for their eight postseason appearance in the past nine years, so October baseball is hardly unfamiliar to their longest-tenured players. Still, this is a team that at times starts three position players 22 or younger \u2014 Jackson Chourio, Cooper Pratt and Luis Lara.<\/p>\n

Per Stats Perform, the only team to start three position players 22 or younger in a World Series game was the 1914 Boston Braves \u2014 Les Mann (21, RF), Rabbit Maranville (22, SS) and Charlie Deal (22, 3B) in Game 2 against the Philadelphia Athletics.<\/p>\n

That team, known as the \u201cMiracle Braves\u201d after rallying from last place in mid-July to win the National League pennant, won that World Series.<\/p>\n

\u2022 How good has Pittsburgh Pirates closer Mason Montgomery been since the All-Star break? Nearly as good as the Houston Astros\u2019 Josh Hader, a fellow left-hander who is one of the top closers in the sport.<\/p>\n

Hader since the break is 13-for-13 in save chances with a 0.38 ERA, .270 opponents\u2019 OPS and 28-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Montgomery is 9-for-9 with a 0.79 ERA, .355 opponents\u2019 OPS and 37-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the flight to Houston when Kevin Gausman learned of his trade to his Chicago Cubs, the veteran…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":840534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[479,2325,363,99],"class_list":["post-840533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-milwaukee-brewers","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840533","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=840533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}