A tweak, a grimace, and it all changes
A ground ball. A routine throw. Kevin Gausman dives to tag the runner. He gets back up. He winces. The left shoulder has just given way to something.
Sixth inning, Wednesday night. Chicago hosts Miami. Gausman covers first on a standard play. Michael Busch fires the ball over. The veteran snares it, then launches himself at Heriberto Hernandez for the tag. The play is made. The body pays for it.
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A grim old high school memory
Craig Counsell put it plainly. The shoulder “stretched oddly, and it caught a bit.” That’s all anyone knows for now. Gausman, 35, has seen this movie before. He had already dislocated that same shoulder back in high school.
Before that, his night had already gone sour. Kyle Stowers had just punished him with a two-run homer. Then came the Hernandez play. Then came the exit, with Javier Assad taking over.
The right-hander is keeping his cards close on what comes next. He says he wants to “take something to get ahead of the pain tonight.” He hopes to wake up feeling better. He’s not making promises.
A season already full of twists
Gausman arrived in Chicago last month, brought in from Toronto in a deadline move to add some muscle to the rotation for the stretch run. Nine starts in a Cubs shirt, four wins, two losses, a 4.83 ERA. Across the full season, split between the two clubs, he is up to 32 starts with a 4.51 ERA.
The Cubs are fighting for a playoff spot over the next few days, locked in a tight wild-card race. They may have to do it without him on the mound. That would force Counsell to shuffle his rotation at the worst possible time of year.
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