The Cubs announced that right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right forearm strain. Left-hander Luke Little has been called up from Triple-A Iowa to take Leiter’s spot on the 26-man roster.
After posting a sterling 0.90 ERA over his first 20 innings of the season, Leiter’s performance has dipped sharply, with a ghastly 15.58 ERA over 8 2/3 innings in his last 12 appearances. Leiter’s last four outings specifically saw him touched up for eight earned runs over 3 1/3 innings of work, so it seems possible that these games might’ve been impacted by the forearm strain if Leiter had been trying to pitch through some discomfort.
All in all, Leiter has a 5.34 ERA over 28 2/3 innings this season, yet with a much more respectable set of secondary metrics. Leiter’s SIERA is only 2.96, as a .338 BABIP and a 55% strand rate have been working against him. On the plus side, Leiter has a strong 48.7% grounder rate, quality hard-contract numbers, and a 30.2% strikeout rate that sits in the 91st percentile of all pitchers.
Leiter’s walk rate is below average, but that was also true during the 2022-23 seasons, when he emerged as a very effective weapon out of Chicago’s bullpen. Leiter posted a 5.53 ERA in 114 innings with the Phillies and Blue Jays in 2017-18, but then didn’t pitch another big league inning for three full seasons, due to a Tommy John surgery, the pandemic-shortened nature of the 2020 season, and a stint in the Tigers’ farm system in 2021 that didn’t result in a call-up to the Show.
The Cubs signed Leiter to a minor league deal prior to the 2022 season, and then another minors contract in the 2022-23 offseason. The moves have become nice hidden-gem discoveries for the team, as Leiter had a 3.75 ERA and 27.2% strikeout rate over 132 innings in 2022-23, albeit with an 8.9% walk rate. Working first as a swingman, Leiter became a key set-up man behind closer Adbert Alzolay last season.
Unfortunately, Leiter now joins Alzolay and Julian Merryweather on the injured list, as the Cubs are without their three top bullpen arms. Merrywether is expected to return from a stress fracture in his ribs by around the All-Star break, while Alzolay’s return from a right flexor strain is still up the air. Details on Leiter’s forearm strain haven’t yet been revealed, but naturally any kind of a forearm issue is a big concern, particularly for a pitcher who already has one Tommy John procedure on his record.
These injuries and a lack of performance overall has made the Cubs’ bullpen into a weak link on the roster, though not much has gone right for the team over what has been a disastrous six weeks of baseball. Beginning the season strong with a 24-17 record, Chicago has stumbled to a 13-23 mark over its last 39 games. The NL’s parity has meant that the Cubs are still just two games out of a wild card slot despite a 37-40 record, yet Chicago will need to regain momentum quickly before the team is perhaps forced into some hard decisions at the trade deadline.
Maybe call The White Sox they have a number of good relief pitchers.
Can you tell me who they are? I watch them blow game after game.
This probably started when he was used 15 times in 30 days last August.
Rossy is the gift that keeps on giving, basically destroyed the Cubs 3 best pen arms and they all have been injured or ineffective this season.
To be fair, he wasn’t given much to work with. Hoyer decided the Cubs pen was ready for the stretch run despite having only a couple reliable arms at the time. I said it at the time and it’s even more obvious now, they needed at least a couple arms at the deadline. They are never hard to find and are always pretty cheap. No idea how he thought they were in good shape for a stretch run.
He hasn’t had a decent splitter for a couple of weeks now. Would make sense if his arm is hurting him.
Alzolay, Merryweather, Leiter – all three of last year’s late inning relievers all on the IL this year.
Maybe next year ? Is it too soon ?
Leiter was awful lately, hope getting healthy cures his pitching
Tyson Miller has really been the heart of this bullpen. I would give him the 9th inning.