A Giant emerges: How Kevin Gausman evolved into the NL's surprise success story

It would be too easy to declare that baseball’s endearing unpredictability is nicely epitomized in the parallel sagas of Kevin Gausman and the San Francisco Giants.

After all, Gausman, to the surprise of all, is the best pitcher in the National League not named Jacob deGrom, the nascent ace of a team with its league’s best record, a collection of cast-offs and try-agains outshining the many MVPs and faces of baseball to the south in Los Angeles and San Diego.

Gausman has a 1.43 ERA and the Giants a 40-25 record and .615 winning percentage, benchmarks that, after one-third of the season, have earned the seal of legitimacy but are about to endure the stress test of sustainability. If it’s kismet, we’ll know soon enough.

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