The Cubs have designated left-hander Anthony Kay for assignment, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. His 40-man roster spot will go to prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong, whose promotion was reported earlier today. Outfielder Alexander Canario was optioned to open an active roster spot.
Kay, 28, has made 13 appearances for the Cubs this season but with an earned run average of 6.35 in that sample. His eight strikeouts were a match for his eight walks, leading to subpar 14.8% rates in both categories. He’s spent more time in Triple-A this year and has had better results there. In 37 1/3 innings, he has a 4.10 ERA, 31.1% strikeout rate and 52.4% ground ball rate, though his 13.7% walk rate is still quite high.
Since the trade deadline has long passed, the Cubs will have to put Kay on waivers in the coming days. They already passed him through unclaimed back in January, before adding him back to the roster in June. That was his first outright, meaning he didn’t have the right to elect free agency at that time. But if he were to pass through unclaimed a second time, he would then have the right to reject another such assignment.
Kay was once a prospect of note, having gone from the Mets to the Blue Jays alongside Simeon Woods Richardson in the 2019 Marcus Stroman trade. He hasn’t been able to put it together yet, with a career ERA of 5.60 in 82 innings. If any club were intrigued by his past prospect stock or his strikeout stuff in the minors this year, the southpaw comes with five years of control, but he will be out of options next year.
Kiss him goodbye.
Adios Tony Buckets.
PCA will make his debut tonight. Bellinger to first, PCA to center, Wisdom to the bench mid-late game.
Bellinger being able to play first base, a pretty good one too, is a real boon for the Cubs.
Every time I see Wisdom’s name in the line up I wanna hurl. But actually this is one park he might really be of some use. Maybe. The good news seems to be Candy doesn’t need an IL stint anyway.
Against a lefty in Coors has the potential of Wisdom doing something positive for sure.
Freeland has the worst batting average allowed against righties in the majors this year so hopefully the perfect medicine for a team in a slump.
Need a major snap….and some comfortable wins….cannot beat up the bullpen with two weeks left and Coors can be rough on bullpens.
How fitting they designated a former Mets top prospect for another former Mets top prospect.
Also fitting that the guy they traded for PCA also made his MLB debut in Colorado, hitting a game winning home run.
And…Blackmon will be there from COL side to witness both if PCA cranks one out.
I bet Kay will make it through Waivers even though he’s been pretty good for the Cubs. He” probably accept a spot at Iowa to see what happens before he’s a FA.
His last 3 outings were not good.
Best of luck Anthony, from a fellow Husky!
Kay? K