KANSAS CITY — After Kevin Gausman fired one of his trademark splitters beyond the reach of Royals outfielder Starling Marte’s bat, the new Cubs starter headed off the Kauffman Stadium mound. As Gausman walked back to the dugout following that seventh-inning strikeout, there were clear cheers from the Chicago fans occupying the ballpark.
“That was cool,” Gausman said. “Definitely something I wasn’t expecting, being on the road. That’s the cool part about being part of such a huge fan base. They travel well. They’re excited about this team for good reason.”
Gausman is one of those reasons.
In a 6-4 win over the Royals on Friday night, Gausman showed why the Cubs’ front office sent a pair of prospects to Toronto to land the veteran right-hander. Making his debut for the North Siders, Gausman turned in seven innings, equaling his longest outing of the year and the longest start of the season for a Cubs pitcher.
The mound was finally a source of calm in a whirlwind week.
Gausman had an emotional outing in front of Blue Jays fans last Saturday, knowing that it could be his final start for Toronto after five seasons with the ballclub. That proved accurate when the Cubs swung their trade to land him on Sunday night. Then came the packing and the travel and the media interviews.
Adding to the pile, the Blue Jays came to Wrigley Field on Thursday for a makeup game against the Cubs. Gausman could have pitched in that one, but acknowledged that would have been difficult on him. The pitcher added that it was also his young daughter’s birthday on Thursday as well.
“Listen, it’s been a lot,” Gausman said. “Not just baseball. There’s a lot going on. That’s why I say that it was nice to get out there and just focus on getting guys out.”
Gausman has done a lot of that in recent years.
Across the 2021-25 seasons, Gausman turned in a 3.34 ERA in 158 starts. Only Dylan Cease made more starts (162) in that time period. Gausman’s 925 2/3 innings in that five-year span were second to only Logan Webb (968 1/3). His 1,020 strikeouts ranked third behind Cease (1,106) and Zack Wheeler (1,041). Gausman averaged 185 innings per year.
At the time of the trade, Gausman had a 4.38 ERA this year with 127 strikeouts and 36 walks in 127 1/3 innings. The ERA is up from his typical showing in recent campaigns, but the under-the-hood numbers are close to his usual production. And the Cubs also know between his career path and postseason resume, this is a pitcher who will not be thrown off by much.
So, seven strong innings after the week Gausman just had? It should not be a surprise.
“That’s one of the reasons you trade for somebody like this,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “This is a guy that we can’t throw something at him that he hasn’t seen. Guys like that are prepared for anything. That doesn’t take away the emotion of getting traded, or seeing your old team kind of come to town right away. But it teaches you how to process it and move forward.
“And Gaus has been in every situation. And he’s been in big situations. And he’s been traded. And he’s been on the next team. He knows how he has to react to that to be an effective pitcher. And tonight was a great example of it.”
Gausman admitted to being a little too amped up out of the chute in Kansas City.
Carter Jensen drew a leadoff walk against Gausman, who recorded two outs before giving Cubs fans a scare. Royals slugger Salvador Perez lined a pitch back up the middle at 106.2 mph, per Statcast, and it struck Gausman near his right ankle. The ball bounced into right field for a single, while Counsell and a trainer went to the hill to check on the pitcher.
“Once we were out there,” Counsell said, “I was pretty confident he was going to be OK.”
“It took me kind of getting hit in the ankle to wake up a little bit,” Gausman quipped.
Isaac Collins followed with an RBI double, but Gausman set down 19 of the final 21 batters he faced. He leaned heavily on his splitter (51% of his 96 pitches) and ended with four strikeouts and seven groundouts. There was a solo homer by Jensen in the fifth, but it did not hinder Gausman’s rhythm.
“It seemed like he got stronger as it went,” Cubs catcher Carson Kelly said. “He’s nasty. He really is.”
