The Cubs and right-hander Gabe Klobosits have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Ari Alexander of 7News Boston. It wasn’t specified whether or not the righty would receive an invite to big league camp in spring training.
Klobosits, 31 in May, has a limited major league track record. He pitched in 11 games for the Nationals in 2021. In 11 1/3 innings, he allowed seven earned runs, surrendered 13 hits, issued five walks and hit one batter while striking out five.
He had pretty good numbers in the minors that year, tossing 38 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, allowing just 1.64 earned runs per nine. He struck out 28.9% of batters faced while walking opponents at an 8.8% clip.
The years since then have been more challenging. Around Opening Day 2022, he was designated for assignment by the Nats. The A’s claimed him but they also designated him for assignment in June and released him shortly thereafter. A player being released after a DFA is often a sign of injury, since injured players aren’t allowed to be placed on outright waivers. Klobosits’ transaction tracker doesn’t say he was placed on the minor league IL at that time but he hadn’t pitched for about three weeks prior to the DFA.
He was with the Blue Jays in the second half of 2023 on a minor league deal and posted a 4.74 ERA over 19 innings. The past two years, he’s been putting up good numbers in indy ball. In 2024, he posted a 2.18 ERA in 45 1/3 innings for the Gastonia Ghost Peppers of the Atlantic League. He struck out 24.6% of batters faced but with a 14.4% walk rate.
Last year, he split his time between the Cleburne Railroaders in the American Association and the High Point Rockers of the Atlantic League. Between those two clubs, he tossed 34 2/3 innings with a 2.08 ERA, 27.6% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate.
Alexander says that Klobosits has recently been hitting 98 miles per hour on the gun. That would be a bit above his last affiliated action. He averaged 94.7 miles per hour with the Nats in 2021 and then 93.9 mph with the Jays in Triple-A in 2023.
For the Cubs, there’s nothing wrong with giving him a non-roster pact and taking a close-up look at him. The team has had some good results with unheralded arms. A minor league deal with Brad Keller last year went so well that he got a $22MM deal this offseason, though he had a much better track record prior to becoming a Cub. If Klobosits can get a roster spot, he still has a minor league option remaining.
Photo courtesy of Michael McLoone, Imagn Images
Now they are just signing guys to ay catch in front of people in Arizona.
Or…MLBTR is posting every single move they make to get clicks for advertisers.
Reporting roster decisions and credible rumors are pretty much what MLBTR is all about.
Are you new here, or just a curmudgeon?
Nah….just pointing out a fact that that the Chicago White Sox have literally signed 22 players to the same minor league free agent type deal in the past two weeks…22!!!
Put Cubs, Yanks, Red Sox, Dodgers in headlines…they gonna get clicks.
Boo hoo. Man the people whining about garbage teams not getting love on here is comical. These guys wants clicks. That’s how websites work, genius. If they wrote about the White Sox, Marlins, and Rockies, every day, the clicks go away. The White Sox need to win more than 60 games for anyone to give a crap.
Dude…I’m a Cubs fan…and you literally repeated my initial point. Cubs stories for clicks.
Every team signs dozens of these guys…
Ps…if the White Sox won 100 games no one would give a crap. That’s how these baseball teams work.
never met a Cubs/Steelers fan. We don’t claim you
I had a case of Klobosits once in college. Worst weekend of my life.
I think there’s an ointment for that…
Thanks for clarification. My initial reaction was that Klobosits was one of the new GLP-1 drugs with a catchy tv commercial jingle.
If you ever partake in such an adventure again, the morning after have a bowl of Menudo and a couple of shots of tequila. That will fix you right up….Hopefully.
SnoopDoggWHO!?.GIF
I’m surprised I’ve never heard of this guy, especially with such a unique last name.
What’s in it for GSL?
Your middle name is Susan.
Shut up about the sun!
I would like to know why my comment, your middle name is Susan, was censored in the first place… But if context is needed, the post above mine is from The Office and is a comment made by Gabriel Susan Lewis. That is his name.
My first comment is showing!!! Yay free speech! Or…silly app glitch. Either way, I am pleased that The Office has found its way back to MLBTR.
Johnny Cash sang a song about Susan
Boys named Sue usually grow up to be pretty tough…GSL is not one of those fellas.
Never mind the night Chicago died. This is the day the Klobosits era begins in the Windy City.
Oh Boy he Klobosits that one outta here!
Distant cousin of Joe Shlabotnik who played for Stumptown in the Green Grass League.
Klobosits, just met her
Good for him increasing his velocity by 4 miles per hour in Indy ball. Obviously a long shot for him to do much but a pretty good non roster deal in my opinion.
Just need to sign Goldschmidt to finish the off season
It’s Klobbering time!
Klobo-sits attract.
Paula Abdul dancing with a cartoon cat
His last name sounds like a disease.
This “pitcher” does not exist. Obvious AI fake name. Klobosits!
Ask for a video clip of this purported human, then watch the subject “throw” with a middle arm. Ha! Busted!
This is akin to AI legal Pleadings that completely fabricate cites and case names. Some law firms chronically submit such works unchecked and have been Sanctioned.
Likely owing to the present state of public toxicity, government officials have apparently decided against Sanctioning MLBTR. Whew! Let them blaze their new legal trails elsewhere.
Klobosits! No one has ever seen “him” and AI in the same room. We all know why.
Somewhere, Harry Caray is trying to pronounce this guy’s name backward.
Talk about not giving up on a dream. He is 31 and only pitched 11 major league innings but is still trying to make it.
He’s got a live arm, so why not? Some pitchers in the independent leagues have MLB potential, maybe he’s one of them.