Cubs include Gausman on Wild Card roster and leave Thielbar, Cabrera out

Kevin Gausman is on the Cubs' 26-man Wild Card roster despite the shoulder issue that interrupted his final regular-season start. Chicago announced its group Tuesday ahead of the series against San Diego, carrying 12 pitchers and 14 position players. Left-hander Caleb Thielbar and right-hander Edward Cabrera are outside that group.

The official roster puts Gausman alongside Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Clay Holmes and David Peterson, giving Craig Counsell several pitchers with starting experience to deploy through a best-of-three series. It also includes Gabriel Arias among the position players.

Gausman's inclusion settles the roster question without specifying his role or how many innings he can provide. MLB's reporting before the series described his progress after the shoulder problem and Counsell's willingness to use starters in relief. The manager has emphasized getting all 27 outs, with pitchers prepared for assignments that may differ from their regular-season routines. Tuesday's list preserves those options; it does not, by itself, announce the starters for the remainder of the series.

The omissions reflect how Counsell expects the Padres to use their own bench. In the Chicago Tribune's Tuesday roster report, Meghan Montemurro wrote that Counsell found it difficult to identify a fit for Thielbar against a San Diego group likely to pinch hit in certain spots. Counsell also described choosing pitching length while protecting against injuries elsewhere on the roster. That explains why the final group is more useful than a simple ranking of the Cubs' relievers.

Cabrera had returned from the family medical emergency list Monday, according to the Tribune, but was not selected for this round. Arias gives Chicago another defensive option and a possible pinch runner. Those decisions leave the Cubs with two catchers, seven players listed as infielders in the Tribune's breakdown, and five outfielders.

The position-player group includes Alex Bregman, Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner, Michael Busch, Pedro Ramírez and Matt Shaw, along with Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Michael Conforto and Tyrone Taylor. Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya are the catchers. Chicago can now work from a defined roster while leaving the pitching assignments flexible as the series develops.