The Chicago Cubs closed the regular season on a winning note Sunday, defeating the Boston Red Sox 6-2 and locking in a Wild Card meeting with the San Diego Padres that begins Tuesday night in California.
With an off day Monday to prepare, the club issued a timely update on right-hander Kevin Gausman, whose availability for the series remains an open question after a late-season workload that has been carefully managed.
Gausman threw a bullpen session Sunday at Tropicana Field, and the work was described as going well. Club officials will continue to monitor him through Monday before deciding whether he can be used against the Padres.
The update arrives at a moment when Chicago’s rotation depth will be tested in a short series, and any contribution from Gausman would give manager Craig Counsell another experienced option in a staff already stretched by the grind of a full season.
This is Gausman’s first year in a Cubs uniform. Acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays on August 2 in exchange for outfielder Brett Bateman and shortstop Ty Southisene, the veteran has made nine starts for Chicago, going 4-2 with a 4.83 ERA.
Those numbers reflect both the adjustment of joining a new club midseason and the physical demands that have followed him throughout a long career.
A first-round pick in the 2012 draft, Gausman is now in his 14th major-league season. He has previously pitched for the Baltimore Orioles, San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves, and Cincinnati Reds, compiling a 121-125 record and a 3.87 ERA across 393 appearances, 354 of them starts.
A two-time All-Star, he remains a pitcher whose stuff and experience still command attention even when results have been mixed.
The Cubs finished 89-73 and second in the National League Central, a record that earned them this postseason berth but also left little margin for error.
Facing a Padres club that has been a consistent October presence, Chicago will need every healthy arm it can muster. Gausman’s bullpen session offers a sliver of optimism, yet the decision to use him will rest on how he responds over the next 24 hours.
If he is cleared, he could appear in relief or even draw a start depending on how the series unfolds. If not, the Cubs will lean on the rest of a rotation that has carried them this far.
For a team that spent the final weeks of the schedule fighting for positioning, the Gausman update is a reminder that October baseball is as much about availability as it is about talent.
Chicago has already shown it can win with a mix of veterans and younger pieces. Whether Gausman is part of that mix against San Diego will be known soon enough.
Until then, the club will treat Monday as both a rest day and a final evaluation period before the games that decide whether the season continues.
