Kevin Gausman hurt his shoulder diving for a tag at third base. Not throwing a pitch. Not landing awkwardly on the mound. Diving for a tag, in the sixth inning of a game the Cubs lost 3-2 to the Marlins.
That is the kind of injury that makes a pitching coach age five years in an afternoon.
What We Know
It is the left shoulder, which is at least the non-throwing side for a right-hander. Gausman has dislocated that shoulder before, back in high school, so there is history there.
He was cautiously optimistic after the game, saying he hopes he wakes up and feels great but you never know, and that he would get on some medicine and get some treatment. That is a veteran refusing to panic in front of a microphone while clearly not loving the situation.
The Timing Is Awful
Chicago’s magic number to clinch an NL wild card spot sits at one. One win, or one loss by a competitor, and the Cubs are in.
They will try to get it this weekend in Boston, where severe weather has already forced the schedule into a Friday doubleheader. A doubleheader thins a pitching staff at exactly the moment the Cubs cannot afford thin.
Losing a rotation piece days before a best-of-three is how good seasons end early.
The Bats Are Already Cold
Gausman is not even the only problem. The Cubs went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position Wednesday, one day after going 1-for-18 in the same spots. Against the Marlins. A sub-.500 team.
A lineup that cannot score against Miami in late September is not going to bludgeon its way past a wild card opponent. Chicago needs pitching to carry it, which brings us right back to the shoulder.
Craig Counsell Has a Puzzle
Counsell has managed around worse. But there is no version of a wild card rotation that gets better by subtracting Gausman, and the Cubs’ depth behind the top three has been shaky all year.
If Gausman cannot go, the Cubs are essentially asking their bullpen to cover more innings than any bullpen wants to cover in October.
The Honest Read
Overnight response is everything here. Shoulders that calm down with treatment are a scare. Shoulders that stiffen up are a diagnosis.
Chicago has spent a full season building toward this, including a $175 million investment in Alex Bregman who is himself recovering from facial fractures. A freak injury on a play Gausman had no business making could undo all of it.
Pitchers should not be diving at third base in September. Somebody in that dugout is going to say so out loud eventually.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.