2:46pm: The Cubs have announced the move. Flexen’s contract has been selected from Iowa, and Assad was indeed transferred to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Lefty Tom Cosgrove was optioned to Iowa to clear a spot for Flexen on the active 26-man roster.
9:04am: The Cubs are selecting the contract of veteran righty Chris Flexen from Triple-A Iowa, reports ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. He’s been excellent through his first five starts in Des Moines and would’ve been able to opt out of his minor league contract tomorrow if not added to the 40-man roster. Chicago has a full 40-man roster, so a corresponding move will be necessary.
Flexen, 30, has turned in a pristine 1.16 ERA with a much-improved 22.3% strikeout rate against an 8.5% walk rate in 23 1/3 innings of Triple-A work. He hasn’t made any notable changes to his repertoire, and his velocity is right in line with previous levels (91.3 mph average four-seamer), but Rogers notes that Flexen did make a change to his arm slot that the team believes has contributed to his early success.
Flexen has followed an unusual career arc, originally debuting as a 22-year-old with the Mets in 2017 and struggling through parts of three seasons before heading overseas. Flexen reinvented himself with the Korea Baseball Organization’s Doosan Bears, parlaying one strong year there in 2020 into a two-year free agent deal with the Mariners. Upon coming back to North America, he quickly became a pivotal member of Seattle’s rotation, posting a 3.66 ERA in 317 2/3 innings from 2021-22.
After his 2023 option was picked up, his production cratered and Flexen found himself designated for assignment. He struggled down the stretch after being scooped up by the Rockies, and then pitched the 2024 season on a one-year deal with the White Sox, for whom he worked as an innings-eating fifth starter (4.95 ERA, 160 innings, 30 starts).
Based on how his 2023-24 seasons played out, it wasn’t a big surprise that the free agent market produced only a minor league deal for Flexen. His terrific early performance amid some tangible changes to his delivery, however, has fast tracked him back to the big leagues.
The Cubs will be without ace Justin Steele for the remainder of the season due to elbow surgery, but even with Steele out of the picture, the rotation has generally been solid. Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd have all delivered strong results (albeit in spite of some more concerning underlying numbers for Imanaga in particular). Veteran swingman Colin Rea has stepped into Steele’s rotation spot and been brilliant in three turns (13 1/3 innings, 1.35 ERA, 17-to-3 K/BB ratio).
The Chicago rotation isn’t without flaws, though. Twenty-five-year-old Ben Brown has been inconsistent. He’s shown a promising ability to miss bats but has yet to top five innings in an outing and has scarcely kept his ERA in the rotation under 6.00. All three of Imanaga, Boyd and Taillon have strikeout rates around 19% — about three percentage points shy of the league average. Imanaga and Boyd have roughly average walk rates. Neither seems likely to sustain a sub-3.00 ERA without improvements in one or both areas.
Regardless, the Cubs don’t necessarily have a glaring rotation need. Brown seems likely to get a bit more leash. There are no injuries of any note among the existing quintet. Imanaga exited his most recent start due to some cramping in his legs, but Rogers adds in a second report that Flexen’s promotion is not related to that early exit.
For now, it seems Flexen will just provide some length, perhaps in a similar swingman role to the one previously held by Rea. If Imanaga’s legs ultimately require an IL stint and/or if Brown’s struggles continue, perhaps there’ll be a more notable change to the pitching staff’s composition.
It’s not yet clear how the Cubs will make room on the 40-man roster, though one straightforward option would be to transfer righty Javier Assad from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. Assad has been out all season due to an oblique strain, and while he was progressing through a rehab stint last week, he exited his most recent rehab appearance due to renewed discomfort in his side. That was eight days ago, the Cubs have since announced that he’s been diagnosed with a Grade 2 oblique strain. He’s not going to be ready to return at any point in the near future, making a 60-day transfer the clearest path to open a roster spot without sacrificing any depth.
Well he’s proven before he knows how to pitch in AAA. However he’s also proven he can’t pitch in MLB so there’s that. Are they really that afraid of losing him with Horton dominating, Noland being solid and Birdsell probably coming back sooner rather than later? Hmmmmmm……..Thoughts for the day?
Mike, I’m fine with Flexen as a temporary stopgap. Maybe we catch lightening in a bottle for a while. Longer term, though, I’d much rather see them promote Horton. He’s off to a good start, but remember, he has an injury history, so they’re probably playing it slow with him. And yeah, I was also curious about the status of Birdsell. I take it he’s still hurt?
It’s disgustingly impossible to find out the status of Minor Leaguer’s injuries. It’s like the worlds greatest secret or something. All I know is he had the same injury that Horton had last year Lat Strain. No prognosis at all but he went on the 60 day DL March 19 so you would think he would at least be ramping up by now. Horton got injured in the middle of last year so they didn’t rush him back. Birdsell got hurt right out of the gate so…………… You tell me!
It’s not a secret; Birdsell is out with a lat injury. Horton needs innings, he barely pitched last year. He likely won’t see the big leagues until late June at the earliest. Totally fine to have Flexen up and see what he can do at MLB stage. Mike, you butchered about everything, you hated the Boyd signing, overpaid and Hoyer dumpster diving again, on and on. There’s a reason he’s a respected PBO and you are not.
Respected? Not by Cubs fans he’s not. He lives in Theo’s shadow and appears to be Tom Ricketts pawn. Stating your goal is to win the division isn’t very lofty.
Shows how wrong you are. The Cubs in all likelihood will be limiting both Brown and Hortons innings all year because that’s what teams do with Prized Pitching Prospects who haven’t pitched much as I suggested below. Until they prove they can toss long innings they’ll be limited. Nice guess BTW it proves you can read a calendar at least as 60 days from March 19 means he can’t be activated before 5/19 so bravo for learning the way to read the calendar. I still hate the Boyd signing, And I still hate the Tucker trade IF they don’t sign him it was a waste no matter how it looks now. Hoyer is a noted boot kisser and follower who’s never had a real good thought of his own in his life. He’s going on 10 years of no Playoffs and no ability to judge talent so he’s got you fooled at least. Not really hard though is it?
Imbecile
Still trying to figure out if 16 is
1) Your age
2) Your IQ
3) Your shoe size
?
“No ability” to judge talent? Hasn’t he built a team that is universally, by many services, not Cub fans, not people here that is a top five team in the sport right now?
Hasn’t he been part of three World Series winners?
Traded for guys like Rizzo, Hendricks…drafted guys like Bryant…signed guys like Lester.
And where we cheer for the same team and often have different takes—I think you’ve added another title to your card–“Imbecile”….first time you’ve gotten that, isn’t it?
I’m ok with your opinions and dislike for him—but don’t let the facts get in the way
Mike 127-Hendricks was here already and that was Theo. The scouts are the guys that find talent and tell you who is worth trading for. Lester was here before he took over. Bryant was drafted before he took over. He’s been a boot licking secondary part of 3 WS. But like you said Don’t let facts get in your way. He’s good at assembling a quality scouting Dept. and really stupid about listening to them. All those moves you’re talking about weren’t his. It’s not all bad. I agreed on Carson Kelly, I thought it was a good move at the time and Berti was a godsend. I had never heard of him. But he’s a 1 man bench. Keller was a find. But over all his moves last winter were for job preservation, Not a long term winning team. 10 years of futility gets you fired most places. Heck 3 in a lot of places. Time for Jed to GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. And the sooner the better.
I mean, have you ever heard him talk? Have you ever heard him lay out any kind of long range plan for success? You know why? Because he doesn’t have one. If you want to know what Hoyer was until 2016 look at Carter Hawkins. A boot licking no power GM INO. Revere him if you must but spare me I can see, I’m not blind or deaf like some Cub fans seem to be. Sheep.
Uncle–he was the General Manager when the Cubs won the World Series.
Last ten seasons, as you put it—five playoff appearances and one championship.
You had never heard of Berti? He LED the league in stolen bases in 2022.
Can you please humor us with some of the conversations that Jed had with the scouting department that he didn’t listen to……with some documentation.
I have no idea what connection to have with the offices at Gallagher Way—and appreciate everything you tell us, but really need some back up to prove that you are in the room when all these decisions are made and that you are pounding your fist on the table trying to stop this runaway train.
As for Lester and Hendricks and Bryant—you know as well as all of us—he played some role in getting them all.
I know no such thing and like you yourself said you weren’t there either to know what role Hoyer played in any of that. So if you’re going to rank me for it and then take the same tact yourself, WTF? You know but won’t admit that all happened because of Theo, Not Jed. How do I know that? Seeing what’s happened since. Nothing. And 2016 WAS 10 years ago FYI.
I think 16 is earning a lot of street cred today.
Hoyer joined the Cubs in Oct 2011. In July 2012, Cubs traded Ryan Dempster to the Texas Rangers which netted two players, one being Kyle Hendricks.
I’m guessing that clause kicks in tomorrow so it is worth bringing him up and not losing any pitcher at this time.
Will be watching all day for corresponding move(s)…. DFA Roberts? Put Cosgrove back down—two innings yesterday.
Don’t think we are at the take Brown out of the rotation yet, but Cubs are showing they are not messing around with ineffectiveness too much.
First stretch of 15 games in 16 days so probably adding a little length to the bullpen.
Well I would have thrown Wicks in there too but he’s been either really good or really bad at times this year. It’s kind of mystifying and he’s starting to look like a trade candidate more and more.. I think that would be a mistake but it’s Hoyer we’re talking about here. Cubs have quite few LH options now. I still think they should keep Wicks until Boyd hits the IL like he’s been prone to do. Until Boyd proves he can last a whole year or Ricketts signs off on the Tucker extension Hoyer should be forbidden from trading Caissie or Wicks. So that means they’ll be the first ones shipped off probably. If you listen closely to Tuckers comments there’s no guarantee that EVEN IF Ricketts OK’s the expense that he stays here.
They will probably move Assad to 60-day IL to open up the 40 man spot. Brown is going through what any rookie not named Skenes/Imanaga go through, doubt they will bump him with the current injuries. Flexen may start or they might do some piggy-back starts with him and Rea as both can be long men in the BP. Flexen has been tearing up AAA with good peripherals, no reason not to give him a shot.
mike127.. I think Assad goes on the 60 day like the article suggests.. The only way Brown can figure it out is to continue to get starts. They haven’t shown a lot of patience, but I hope that’s not why Flexen was brought up..
I’m more concerned with the BP. That is still Hoyer’s Achilles Heel..
Flexen is going on the 40 man, but does that mean he’s going on the 26 man or are they keeping him in Iowa and just making sure they keep him for the depth?
Agree—the article was still in the “more to come” phase when I originally posted.
I am growing less and less worried about the bullpen. Right now it seems Hoyer and Counsell have brought in enough arms (not to be confused with great depth)–that these guys have weeded themselves out (Morgan, Pearson, Roberts). And they are pulling the trigger right away on ineffectiveness.
Having Merryweather back healthy has been huge and he has stabilized the 7th inning and with Palencia pitching well that is now solid. Theilbar has been good too. It’s so easy to remember first impressions, like Tokyo—but the guys that are on the roster now have been more than generally, pretty dang good.
Hodge has been solid in the 8th and Pressly has now been crystal clear for a month (one unearned run on the drop by Turner at first base).
And with Palencia and Hodge and Keller they actually have some guys in the pen that throw harder than 83. (including Merryweather and Pomeranz—and yes even Pearson).
And with guys like Holowell and soon Miller and Brasier—it’s basically about a 15 man bullpen is going to be put up or shut up.
Crossed fingers…
What do we know about Birdsell’s timeline?
Not much just that he hasn’t yet resumed throwing so at least one month out if he started to build back up today.
They also had Rea lower his arm slot and Rea has been also trending up.
Good gamble and keeps Horton on 1 per week at Iowa. You want those extra innings available on Cade’s arm come October
I would rather see Cade over Flexen. Unfortunately it’s not up to me.
Uncle, I’m generally with you as far as favoring prospects over retreads, but we don’t actually KNOW anything about how Horton, Birdsell, and Noland would fare in the majors–or Wiggins or anyone else they have. And neither Wicks nor, IMO, Assad (when he gets back) have really established themselves as major-league pitchers either. Flexen pitched some decent games in a terrible situation in 2024. I’m comfortable giving him a look.
Sounds like Chris was flexen’ his pitching skills in Iowa ;O)
Best of luck to him!!
Unless there’s something wrong with Imanaga that they’re not saying out loud. Is he heading to the IL?
Cubs have been weird about injuries this year. When Justin Steele got hurt, Cubs brass didn’t seem alarmed, even after Steele was getting a second opinion. Then when it was revealed that he needed surgery, Cubs wouldn’t clarify if it was the full-blown procedure or the internal brace procedure.
DFA candidates- Merryweather and Pearson( Finally walk themselves out of town), Roberts(?) I’d keep him but you know Jed. Hollowell(?) He presents a different look at least, But IDK if he’s worth it. Nicky Lopez or Brujan? Still not sure why they’re here at all. Not like they don’t have anybody to lose or DFA for some more gardening money for Ricketts.
Flexen is a perennial DFA candidate. It’s totally amazing that he keeps getting chances.
Yep it’s an organizational quirk because it even pre-dates Hoyer being #1. For whatever reason, they never seem to disclose what’s going on until it’s obvious to everyone.
OMG that’s all we need. Cubs are in serious trouble if something happens to Shota!
Assad to 60-day most likely, not DFA’ing Merryweather.
Mike – You might be onto something. He was unusually bad against the Dodgers, and he’s been pitching on 6 days rest for his last couple starts.
But he looked good yesterday, threw 87 pitches and they didn’t need him to come out for the 6th.
Nobody asked me from the Cubs but this is what I would do. The Cubs are going to limit Horton and Browns innings in all probability. I’d let them split games in MLB at the end of the year and turn them into a 2 man ACE Pitcher. Let each pitch 4 innings and keep them fresh as a Playoff Pitcher and basically gives the bullpen a day off. You’d only have to cover 1 inning hopefully. But like I said, Nobody asked me.
It’s not a bad plan. And, in any case, I don’t see the point of letting Horton use up his arm in Iowa anymore. Bring him up.
It was just cramps. Shōta and Craig said it wasn’t an issue in their post game interviews.
Have no fear Cubs, Flexseal is here to patch that pitching staff.
Flexen has made 14 million in career earnings for a guy that is literally just a body on the mound…
Who will throw more innings this year? Kike Hernandez, lobbing it in like your grandma. Or David Robertson?
I watched a number of his starts last year with the White Sox. He’s honestly not bad. He pitched as well as he probably could have for a team with no run support and Swiss cheese defense.
I would not be shocked if he turns into a serviceable back end starter in this better situation.
I agree. He was OK for the Sox last season. But most people here tend to pigeonhole players and not really look at them unbiasedly after that.
I’ve questioned some of Hoyer’s past moves. But offloading Bellinger’s 30 million and using that money to pay Tuckers salary and most of Boyd’s is why the Cubs are succeeding.
I don’t mind the trade but they didn’t use the money they put it in the bank. They also got nothing in return. Tucker is a great add, Rea has been great, CK great, Berti great add, another season of glossing over the bullpen. Turner is just wasting a roster spot. If they would have taken that 30 million and added a frontline starter or Bregman that’s a team that can win it all. You trade for one year of Tucker you have to push the chips or extend him. The trade looks fantastic unless he walks.
Flexen was a decent pitcher last year. He had his fair share of clunkers, but he gave up 3 earned runs or fewer in about 2/3rds of his starts.
Calling Steele an Ace is a stretch
Id agree, but he’s been the Cubs #1 starter for a while now. Sad as that may be, he’s been good. You could say Shota took that title now.
Cubs desperately need a power RH SP for the rotation. Maybe Horton, but that’s a lot to ask of a young guy. It’s not Brown. 2-pitch Ben’s future is in the pen. He can’t get thru the order 3 times unless that changeup develops.
Cubs don’t have an ace. They have a solid rotation but not an ace to be found.
Can’t develop their own pitchers, so the bottom scrapings of the league will do. Stick to the script Cubs, as usual.
Yes stick to the script of being in first place and being a winning ballclub.. Good point.
is the definition of an innings eater down to 160 innings? 30 starts with the Rox is decent,maybe they should call that a start eater. but then, what do you call a Rays Opener?
In April
@ Manfred: You are right if they stay there. You are wrong if they don’t.
Unfortunately, there is some truth in what you say. The oitchers they develop all have low ceilings. Maybe Horton will prove to be an exception.
Histoy of cubs developing pitchers are mid to late 20s so Cade, sorry you still have a couple more years to develop
Liked what I saw of Cosgrove in his outing. Hope he gets another call up this year his stuff and delivery will play in the majors. He has reverse splits being better against righties so I don’t see why the cubs don’t just use him as a RHP.
In a way it’ll be good if the cubs get swept by the crew this weekend because it’s only matter of time before cubs need a genuine 3rd basemen along with another starting pitcher or two other than flexen and a sweep would bring a sense of urgency.
Right now, bullpen hot and cold eac day with counsell losing faith in Merrywather and palencia moving up temporarily until he too gets blasted. Such is the life in any mlb bullpen!