After teams gave up on Kevin Gausman, he became an All-star with Giants

In a span of 18 months, Kevin Gausman was traded, placed on waivers, traded again and finally non-tendered.

Less than two years after his future as a major league starting pitcher was in jeopardy, Gausman ranks among the sport’s elite.

“From a pedigree standpoint, from a stuff standpoint, the industry has always viewed him as a top of the rotation starter — always,” Giants manager

Gabe Kapler said. “It was always, like, he was a slider short.”

Gausman, who was selected fourth overall by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2012 MLB Draft, spent the first five years of his career throwing a high-90s fastball, an impressive splitter and a slider that could generously be considered a liability. What separates a starter from a reliever is often the presence of a solid third pitch, and throughout Gausman’s tenure in Baltimore, he never developed a reliable breaking ball.

So after he’d been traded from Baltimore to Atlanta and again from Atlanta to Cincinnati, Gausman landed in the Reds’ bullpen. During the final two months of the 2019 season, Gausman made 14 relief appearances for the Reds as he racked up 29 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings while posting a 4.03 ERA that was 19 percent better than the league average during that timeframe.

Gausman was at least a decent major league pitcher, but the Reds had no interest in paying the $10-plus million the right-hander was projected to earn for the 2020 season. Especially if his future was in the bullpen.

“I didn’t know what teams were going to value me as,” Gausman said. “I was pitching the last two and a half months out of the bullpen for the Reds and did well, came in in big spots and got outs and there were some teams talking about me possibly being a back end bullpen guy. But the Giants from day one said, ‘We want you to start.’”