With Opening Day now one week away, the Cubs made some selections on their beginning pitching plan to start the yr. Supervisor Craig Counsell instructed members of the membership’s beat, together with Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune, that left-hander Jordan Wicks and Javier Assad may have rotation jobs to open the marketing campaign. Veteran lefty Drew Smyly, in the meantime, will head to the bullpen. In a separate tweet, Montemurro confirms that righty Jameson Taillon will begin the season on the injured record. When it comes to the catching group, Maddie Lee of the Chicago Solar-Instances relays that each Jorge Alfaro and Joe Hudson have been instructed they gained’t make the workforce however are staying in huge league camp for now.
The Cubs got here into camp with a entrance 4 of Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks, Shota Imanaga and Taillon, with one spot out there for guys like Wicks, Assad, Smyly, Hayden Wesneski or Caleb Kilian. In early March, Kilian was recognized with a teres main pressure and will probably be out for a number of months, taking him out of the competitors.
Taillon was dealt a lot smaller points however they nonetheless slowed his development. He initially had some soreness is his calves and that was adopted by some decrease again tightness. He nonetheless has not appeared in an official Spring Coaching recreation and can start the season on the IL. He instructed Bruce Levine of WSCR on the weekend that he was planning to throw off a mound this week, which exhibits some progress, however he’s probably nonetheless a couple of weeks away from readiness.
With Taillon out of motion, there have been two open spots behind the rotation, which can go to Wicks and Assad. Wicks is likely one of the membership’s high pitching prospects and he made his main league debut final yr with a 4.41 earned run common in seven begins. In 91 1/3 innings of minor league work, he had a 3.55 ERA, 26.5% strikeout charge and eight.6% stroll charge.
He solely struck out 16.3% of hitters in his first style of the majors, however in a reasonably small pattern of 34 2/3 innings. For what it’s price, he’s posted a 2.60 ERA this spring, although with a modest 16.9% strikeout charge. However he has additionally restricted his walks to 2.8% and it’s a small pattern of 17 1/3 innings. He’ll get an opportunity to take a step ahead on the main league degree to start out the season. He nonetheless has a full slate of choices, so the Cubs may simply ship him again to the minors when Taillon is wholesome in the event that they so select.
Assad has a bit extra expertise, having served in a swing function for the Cubs over the previous two years. He has a 3.06 ERA in 147 innings over 41 appearances, together with 18 begins. His 20.2% strikeout charge and 9.9% stroll charge are each barely worse than league common however he’s saved 44.7% of balls in play on the bottom and was within the 78th percentile of certified pitchers final yr by way of common exit velocity. He has allowed seven earned runs in 9 innings this spring. He has a few choices and will wind up within the minors later however the Cubs have used him as a protracted reliever out of the bullpen up to now.
That lengthy aid function may maybe be taken by Smyly, who was additionally in that function for a time final yr. The Cubs signed him to a two-year, $19MM deal final offseason however he struggled in 2023 and wound up shifting to the bullpen on a number of events. He completed final yr with a fair ERA of 5.00, nevertheless it was 5.62 as a starter and a pair of.51 out of the ’pen. That latter quantity was in a small pattern of 28 2/3 innings however the Cubs will probably be hoping his stuff will play up in shorter stints. Spring outcomes are to be taken with a grain of salt however he hasn’t performed a lot to win again a rotation job recently, with a 7.71 ERA, 15.1% strikeout charge and 9.4% stroll charge in 11 2/3 innings.
His previous expertise as a starter may have him working multi-innings stints as a reliever, however he may be utilized as a situational lefty. The one different southpaw reliever at present on the roster is Luke Little, who has simply 6 2/3 innings of main league expertise and notable management points within the minors.
As for the catchers, it’s not too stunning they gained’t make the membership. The Cubs have Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya set to be their major catching tandem. Gomes is a 12-year veteran coming off a strong season whereas Amaya has been a notable prospect for some time and made his main league debut final yr. It’s unclear if both Alfaro or Hudson have opt-outs of their minor league offers, nevertheless it appears they are going to be staying in camp in the interim.