Even when he’s at his best, a pitcher can still be optioned if the team really needs it. Kevin Gausman knows that from experience, but the young Orioles starter is no longer looking over his shoulder waiting for that to happen to him.
Combine that comfort, with the fact that the right shoulder he’d been looking over is now completely healthy, and so far this year you have an actualized version of the front-line starting pitcher the Orioles drafted in the first round four summers ago.
“I think it’s huge,” Gausman said Saturday, a day before he makes his fifth start of the season against the Detroit Tigers.