Kevin Gausman expected to make Cubs debut Friday night at Kansas City

CHICAGO (AP) — Kevin Gausman has been connected to the Chicago Cubs since the beginning of his career. Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said the team had asked about his availability for years.

When Chicago finally landed the right-hander in a trade with Toronto on Sunday, well, it wasn't much of a surprise.

“When I told my wife it was the Cubs, she was like, ‘It’s about time,’” Gausman said. “Because just in Baltimore for years, it seemed like it was kind of always a link to here. ... Happy that I’m here finally.”

Gausman was added to Chicago's active roster before it finished a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 7-6 victory on Wednesday. Left-hander Antoine Kelly was optioned to Triple-A Iowa.

The 35-year-old Gausman is expected to make his Cubs debut Friday night at Kansas City, joining a revamped rotation that also includes Clay Holmes. The Cubs also added reliever Ryan Zeferjahn and left-hander Braxton Garrett in two other deals ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.

“Being a part of a team when they can bring guys in and you know that they’re going for it, it’s almost like a shot of adrenaline and can kind of breathe some life into the team,” Gausman said. “It doesn’t seem like this team needs it, to be honest, but still excited to be here.”

Gausman is 5-10 with a 4.38 ERA in 23 starts this season. He was tagged for seven runs and seven hits in two innings in a 16-2 loss to the Cubs on June 19.

But the durable Gausman brings a solid track record to Chicago. He pitched at least 174 2/3 innings and made at least 31 starts in each of the previous five years. He worked 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in Toronto’s 5-1 win over St. Louis on Saturday.

Gausman also helped Toronto reach the 2025 World Series, going 2-3 with a 2.93 ERA in six postseason starts. The Blue Jays lost in the Fall Classic to the Dodgers, a possible playoff opponent for the Cubs this year.

“Once you’re there, all you want to do is get back,” Gausman said of the World Series. “So I’m really excited to hopefully get back there with this team.”

Chicago's deadline additions create some intriguing pitching decisions for manager Craig Counsell moving forward. The Cubs also have right-hander Edward Cabrera and relievers Daniel Palencia and Hoby Milner on rehab stints with Triple-A Iowa.

Colin Rea is back in the bullpen for now after the Cubs decided to skip his next turn in the rotation. But more changes are likely on the way.

“I think we’re going to have guys pitch at doing things they maybe haven’t done in the past as much, and that may be a little, you know, different for them,” Counsell said, “and we may have to kind of be careful with how we manage them in those roles, but these things will figure themselves out. I also think that we have some competition kind of in the starting rotation right now, too.”

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