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Kevin Gausman

2026
Cubs· RHP · throws R· 177.2 IP· 4.51 ERA· 1.27 WHIP· 750 batters faced
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Grade

His grade shows how good he has been, and at what.
Abetter than 83% of qualified pitchers at limiting bases
StarterPower Arm

Misses bats in bunches; lives with the walks.

Gausman is comfortably above average at limiting bases

The simulator expects him to allow 0.431 bases per batter faced, better than 83% of qualified pitchers. His best skill is limiting walks (91st percentile).

His grade rests on 750 batters faced, with data through 2026-09-27.

How to read this chart
Each spoke is a skill estimate adjusted for sample size, not a raw season stat, and farther out is better. A ↓ marks a stat where a lower number is better, and its spoke is flipped so farther out still means better. The middle ring marks the league median and the outer ring the league best. Percentiles compare him with 517 qualified pitchers, those with 100+ batters faced, starters and relievers together.

Plays like…

Each of these pitchers shares his archetype and sits closest to him in xEB/PA. Pick one to see him side by side with Kevin Gausman.

Justin SlatenRed SoxBrandon EisertPiratesCarlos RodónYankeesMichael PetersenMarlins

Pitcher type

This map shows what kind of pitcher he is, next to the league.

Pitcher type

He lands in the “Misses bats, but gets hit hard” corner of the map.

League best:K% − BB% Jacob Misiorowski (26.8%)Hard-hit% allowed Blake Snell (29.0%)

How to read this chart
Two skills separate pitching styles: strikeout rate minus walk rate, where higher is better, and hard-hit rate allowed, where lower is better. The hard-hit axis is flipped, so the best corner is the top right. Each dot is a pitcher with 80+ batters faced this season, sized by batters faced. The dashed lines are the league median on each skill, and the league best on each is named above the chart. Click any dot to open that pitcher's page.
 Kevin GausmanLeague medianPercentile
Bases per ball in play(lower = better).535.527—
Walk rate(lower = better)7%9%91st
Strikeout rate(higher = better)24%22%75th

A higher percentile is better, and the 99th is the top of the league.

Arsenal

These cards show what he throws and what each pitch does.

Kevin Gausman leans on his four-seam fastball (51% of pitches). His best pitch has been the four-seam fastball, saving 1.8 bases per 100 thrown against league average.

Pitch mix & swing-and-miss

+114 bases better than a replacement arm this season

He allowed about 326 estimated bases, against a replacement arm's 440 over the same batters faced.

Replacement level is per-batter and can't be split by pitch type, so the bars below use league average.

All pitches

He saved 14.7 bases against league average across 2,978 pitches, or 0.5 per 100 pitches.

Four-Seam Fastball
51%
93.8 mph · RHP median 95.1
15% whiffs · Lg median 21%
saved 1.8 per 10026.9 total
Splitter
40%
84.0 mph · RHP median 86.9
42% whiffs · Lg median 34%
eveneven
Slider
9%
84.0 mph · RHP median 86.9
36% whiffs · Lg median 33%
cost 4.7 per 10011.9 total

He rarely throws his sweeper and changeup (1% of his pitches combined).

How to read this chart
Each row is a pitch he throws at least 3% of the time, from pitch tracking in the regular season. The bar is how often he throws it, then its average velocity and its whiff rate, the share of swings that miss. Beside the velocity and the whiff rate is the median for that pitch, among pitchers of his hand for velocity and across the league for whiffs. More whiffs are better for a pitcher, while usage and velocity describe how he pitches. The Bases vs average bars score each pitch against a league-average pitch in the same count, and a bar to the left (saved) is better.

Mix by batter side

Four-Seam Fastball
52% vs LHH · RHP median 40%
50% vs RHH · RHP median 33%
Splitter
46% vs LHH · RHP median 32%
33% vs RHH · RHP median 16%
Slider
3% vs LHH · RHP median 20%
16% vs RHH · RHP median 30%
How to read this chart
Each row shows how often he throws a pitch to left-handed hitters (LHH) and right-handed hitters (RHH), next to the median for pitchers of his hand (RHP median). Medians come from right-handed pitchers who throw that pitch at least 3% of the time. Between 45 and 384 of them qualify, depending on the pitch. A mix is a plan, so a higher or lower share is neither better nor worse. Overall results by batter side are under Platoon splits.

Kevin Gausman's pitch movement, 2026

His Slider has moved 2+ inches from its early-season shape, but his other 2 have not.

The verdict above compares each pitch with his own early-season outings in 2026, not with other pitchers, after taking out the league-wide drift in break.

Kevin Gausman's pitch movement, 20260612061218in← glove sidearm side →more risemore drop
Four-Seam FastballFF
Rise 17.0 in
+1.3 vs Lg median
Break 9.3 in
+1.6 vs Lg median
Vs. early season steady
SplitterFS
Rise 4.4 in
+2.0 vs Lg median
Break 13.5 in
+2.7 vs Lg median
Vs. early season steady
SliderSL
Rise 1.2 in
−0.6 vs Lg median
Break −5.0 in
−1.3 vs Lg median
Vs. early season changed
Early season → nowLg medianNormal wobble around the dot
How to read this chart
Each dot is a pitch's current break in inches, averaged over his latest outings. Higher is more rise and further right is more arm-side break, and neither is better or worse. The faint trail runs from his early-season outings to the dot, and the soft halo shows how far normal noise can move it. League median is the small hollow ring, and a pitch marked * has none because too few pitchers throw it. The “changed” verdict removes a league-wide drift that the trail still shows, so a long trail can read as steady. The by-appearance chart below has the exact dates. More on the About page

By appearance

These charts follow his velocity, movement and mix from outing to outing.

These charts follow his velocity, movement and pitch mix one outing at a time, and each pitch keeps the same color in every chart. The velocity and movement charts also shade the middle of the league for scale.

Platoon splits

This section splits his results against lefties and righties.

Platoon splits (EB/PA allowed)

He handles righty bats better than lefty bats, by 0.038 EB/PA allowed.

50% probable range: +0.031 to +0.047

vs LHB426 PA0.460

vs LHB: shrunk estimate 0.460 EB/PA, 50% probable range 0.445 to 0.475, based on 426 plate appearances. Raw (unshrunk) rate: 0.411 EB/PA. League median vs LHB: 0.451 EB/PA.

vs RHB327 PA0.421

vs RHB: shrunk estimate 0.421 EB/PA, 50% probable range 0.406 to 0.437, based on 327 plate appearances. Raw (unshrunk) rate: 0.457 EB/PA. League median vs RHB: 0.435 EB/PA.

0.3980.4190.4400.4620.483
← betterworse →
Below league medianAbove50% probable rangeHis raw rateMiddle half of the league

His split is about typical for a righty arm (median 0.042). Against lefty bats he allows more than the league median, which is a real platoon weakness.

How to read this chart
  • Each dot is his estimate against that side, with its 50% probable range as the bar. These are bases allowed, so lower is better.
  • The diamond is his raw rate, which small samples make noisy, so the simulator pulls the dot toward a more trustworthy value.
  • The dashed tick is the league median, and the shaded strip is the middle half of pitchers with 100 or more batters faced.
  • The two splits average back to his modeled overall EB/PA allowed, not the xEB/PA headline.
  • Tap or hover a mark for its number. LHB and RHB are left- and right-handed batters. More on the About page

Contact allowed

These cards show what hitters do when they make contact.

Batters go to the pull side off him most often, and that's also where they do the most damage.

Pull side and opposite field depend on which side each batter hits from, so this pools every hitter he faced.

Batted balls allowed

Every ball hit off Kevin Gausman this season is drawn where it landed.
hit · out
EBlowhigh
vs Joc PedersonHome run
107 mph · 28° · worth 4.0 bases
06/25 vs Rangers
vs Taylor WardHome run
104 mph · 30° · worth 3.9 bases
06/07 vs Orioles
vs Sal StewartHome run
106 mph · 28° · worth 3.9 bases
08/29 vs Reds
vs Jackson ChourioHome run
109 mph · 28° · worth 3.9 bases
09/09 vs Brewers
vs Carson KellyHome run
105 mph · 28° · worth 3.9 bases
06/19 vs Cubs

Luck check

2 outs behind him came on balls the simulator values at 1.5 bases or more.

vs Ketel MarteOutLucky out
112 mph · 18° · worth 2.5 bases
04/19 vs D-backs
How to read this chart
Dot color is estimated bases (EB), what the contact was worth no matter what the defense did with it. Darker means more bases, so a dark hollow ring in the outfield is a crushed ball his defense ran down. Tap or hover a dot or a row to link the two, and use the ▶ links to watch a play on Baseball Savant.

Deserved vs. actual

Batters have been credited with about 14 more bases than their contact off Kevin Gausman deserved, so his results have been unlucky so far.

Deserved by the contact he allowed276
Actually credited to batters290

Both bars count 517 balls in play, with walks and strikeouts left out.

How to read this chart
Every ball in play is worth the bases its exit velocity, launch angle and direction usually produce. If batters were credited with more than that, his results have been unlucky, and fewer means lucky. BABIP against is the batting average on balls in play he allows, next to the league median.

ERA 4.51 · WHIP 1.27 · BABIP against 0.312 (Lg median 0.286)

Times through the order

These charts show what happens as hitters see him a second and third time.

Best games

These are his biggest outings this season.

Best games

These are his best outings this season, ranked by bases saved against a replacement arm.

Multi-season trends · Kevin Gausman

Compared with last season, his HR allowed% is up and his GB% against is up.

Actual rates show what happened on the field, season by season.