Chicago Cubs hold breath after apparent Kevin Gausman injury

“His left shoulder got extended kind of weird,” Counsell told reporters after the loss. “Just grabbed on him a little bit. He’s a little sore right now, but we’ll treat it and see how he is in the next couple of days.”

Needless to say, losing Gausman’s veteran arm at this point of the season, with the Wild Card series beginning on Tuesday, would be a major blow to the Cubs’ playoff plans. It has the possibility of altering the team’s postseason strategy as Gausman was specifically acquired because of his workhorse attitude and success in postseason play.

Gausman himself doesn’t really know if this apparent injury to his non-throwing shoulder will be a major issue.

“Kind of an awkward position to be in,” Gausman told media. “I dislocated this shoulder in high school a long time ago. I didn’t necessarily do the same exact thing, but just kind of banged it pretty good. It felt fine until I kind of stood up to check the other runner. It just kind of felt the left shoulder was pretty weak at that point. It still feels pretty weak.”

When asked if he expected to be recovered in a few days, he was alarmingly noncommittal.

“I hope I wake up and feel great tomorrow, but you never know,” he replied. “I’ll get on some medicine, get some treatment, try to get in front of it tonight. But it’s just kind of a we’ll-wait-and-see type thing.”

Wild Card rotation issues

Because of scheduling, it was possible that the Cubs would’ve gone with Gausman as their starter for game one of the Wild Card series, especially since Clay Holmes is slated to start one of the games in Friday’s double-header against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Now, though, it appears as though the only real option for the Cubs in game one of the playoffs is Matthew Boyd, with Holmes, Shota Imanaga, and Gausman in the picture for the rest of the opening series.

The problem is that losing even one piece of an already-fragile puzzle could make a big difference for a team struggling with pitching issues.

Everyone will just have to wait and see how this Gausman situation plays out.