- Cubs southpaw Brailyn Marquez has been about six weeks behind in his conditioning after testing positive for COVID-19. The Cubs’ top pitching prospect doesn’t have an official assignment yet, but it’s believed that he’ll soon head to Double-A, per Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com (via Twitter). Marquez doesn’t turn 22 years old until September.
Cubs Rumors
Cubs Designate Kyle Ryan, Select Nick Martini, Place Ian Happ On 10-Day IL
The Cubs announced a series of roster moves Friday, most notably designating lefty Kyle Ryan for assignment and placing center fielder Ian Happ on the 10-day injured list due to a rib contusion stemming from his recent collision with infielder Nico Hoerner. To take their spots on the roster, the Cubs recalled righty Jason Adam and selected the contract of outfielder Nick Martini from Triple-A Iowa.
Ryan, 29, has been the Cubs’ most oft-used reliever since 2019, although he opened the 2021 season at the team’s alternate training site. He was called back up recently and yielded a run on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings. Since latching on with the Cubs in 2019, the former Tigers southpaw carries a 3.86 ERA, a 20.8 percent strikeout rate, a 10.9 percent walk rate and a hefty 55.7 percent ground-ball rate. He hasn’t dominated lefties in a way that so many southpaw relievers do (.240/.319/.368) but he also hasn’t been a total liability against righties either (.264/.347/.408).
Happ and Hoerner had a scary collision when the two converged on a pop fly to shallow center field. Hoerner made the catch but tumbled over Happ and kicked him squarely in the ribs in the process. Thankfully, both avoided a major injury, but Happ now joins Hoerner (forearm strain) on the 10-day injured list in the days since the collision. Perhaps the downtime will give the struggling Happ some time to reset; in 102 plate appearances this year he’s limped to a .167/.307/.250 batting line.
The 30-year-old Martini will be making his Cubs debut whenever he first gets into a game. The former Padres and A’s outfielder inked a minor league deal with Chicago over the winter. He’s capable of playing all three outfield spots and is known for a patient approach at the plate, evidenced by a career .269/.372/.380 batting line in 87 MLB games (288 plate appearances). Martini isn’t teeming with power, but he has an excellent track record in the upper minors, specifically Triple-A: .305/.401/.435 in more than 1400 plate appearances.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/5/21
The latest minor moves from around the game:
- The Astros signed right-hander Ryan Eades to a minor-league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Sugar Land, per an announcement from the Skeeters. Selected by the Twins in the second round of the 2013 draft out of LSU, Eades got to the majors in 2019. Across eight games with Minnesota and Baltimore, he worked 11 1/3 relief innings of three-run ball with ten strikeouts and six walks. He hasn’t pitched since being outrighted off the Orioles’ roster at the end of that season. For his career, Eades has a 3.93 ERA with strong strikeout and walk rates (28.9% and 7.1%, respectively) in 75 2/3 Triple-A frames.
- The Cubs reinstated righty Tyson Miller from the COVID injured list before this evening’s game against the Dodgers (via Jordan Bastian of MLB.com). Miller was optioned to Triple-A Iowa, so no change to the active roster was needed. To create 40-man roster space, Chicago transferred catcher Austin Romine to the 60-day IL. Romine suffered a significant left wrist sprain and was known to be in for an extended absence. Tony Wolters was selected to the roster to back up Willson Contreras when Romine first went down. Prospect Miguel Amaya, assigned to Double-A Tennessee, is the only other catcher on the 40-man.
Cubs Grant Pedro Strop His Release
Right-hander Pedro Strop has asked his release from the Cubs, who have granted the request, tweets Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. He’s still in good standing with the organization, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers adds, indicating this was an amicable parting of ways. MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets that the team remains open to bringing Strop back in the future.
Strop was away from the Cubs on a leave of absence due to personal reasons. Details surrounding that absence were not revealed, and it’s not clear at this point whether he’ll pursue an opportunity with another club. He pitched two shutout innings for the Cubs in 2021, but as of this weekend, Strop had returned to his home in the Dominican Republic.
Set to turn 36 next month, Strop has spent parts of 13 years in the Majors — eight of them with the Cubs. He came to the organization alongside Jake Arrieta in the franchise-altering deal that sent Scott Feldman to the Oriole and went on to become one of the team’s most vital relivers, pitching to a sub-3.00 ERA in his first six seasons in Chicago. Strop has tallied 375 innings in relief for the Cubs over the years and logged a 2.88 ERA while more than 28 percent of his opponents. He’s also been nails in the playoffs, logging a career 1.86 ERA in 19 1/3 postseason frames.
All told, Strop carries a lifetime 3.20 ERA through 505 2/3 big league innings split between the Cubs, Orioles, Rangers and Reds. If he indeed decides to explore other opportunities, there will no doubt be interest in him given his lengthy track record.
Amir Garrett Receives 7-Game Suspension
Major League Baseball announced that it has suspended Reds left-handed reliever Amir Garrett for seven games and fined him an undisclosed amount for “inciting a benches-clearing incident” in the eighth inning of last Saturday’s game against the Cubs. Garrett is appealing the suspension.
As video shows (via MLB.com), Garrett was quite animated after striking out Chicago first baseman Anthony Rizzo. The Cubs took offense to Garrett’s action, leading the two dugouts to clear. There were no punches thrown or ejections handed out, but there was plenty of jawing – especially between Garrett and Cubs shortstop Javier Baez (whom the league fined).
After the game, Baez said he wasn’t going to allow anyone to “disrespect my teammates or my team.” And Cubs manager David Ross took a shot at Garrett’s early season performance, saying, “I think that’s just him trying to fire himself up because he’s not throwing well now.”
It has indeed been a tough start to 2021 for Garrett, who entered the season off three straight effective years and proceeded to dominate during the spring. That excellence hasn’t carried over, though, as Garrett has yielded 10 earned runs on 10 hits (including four runs) in just 8 2/3 innings. Garrett has issued more walks (eight) than strikeouts (seven) along the way.
Cubs Announce Series Of Roster Moves
The Cubs announced a series of roster moves Tuesday, placing righty Jake Arrieta, infielder Nico Hoerner and reliever Dan Winkler on the 10-day injured list. Arrieta is dealing with a right thumb abrasion, while Hoerner has a left forearm strain and Winkler is being slowed by tendinitis in his right triceps. In their absence, the Cubs have recalled lefty Kyle Ryan and right-hander Keegan Thompson. They’ve also selected the contract of infielder Ildemaro Vargas, filling their 40-man roster.
Arrieta, 35, has had a decent rebound effort with the Cubs thus far, making six starts and logging a 4.31 ERA through 31 1/3 frames out of the rotation. He signed a one-year, $6.5MM deal to return to the team with which he won a Cy Young Award in 2015 and a World Series ring in 2016. He’d been slated to take the mound tomorrow, but it appears the cut on his pitching thumb hasn’t healed to the point where he’s able to properly throw all of his offerings. Given the nature of the injury, it seems likely to be a short-term stay on the IL.
The 23-year-old is out to a brilliant start in 2021, slashing .389/.500/.556 with six doubles, three steals and eight walks against seven strikeouts through 44 trips to the plate. Hoerner collided with center fielder Ian Happ when chasing down a shallow fly-ball during Sunday’s game against the Reds, though it’s not clear if that play is the source of his current injury. Happ remains day-to-day after that incident, with manager David Ross telling reporters he’s been diagnosed with a rib contusion after getting kicked “pretty hard” by Hoerner in the process. Hoerner tells reporters he expects to be back from the IL when he’s first eligible (Twitter link via Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago).
Winkler, meanwhile, has held opponents to just one run on five hits in 10 1/3 innings. It’s a strong start in terms of bottom-line results, but the fact that he’s walked seven batters, plunked another and snapped off a wild pitch suggest that he’ll need to improve his control if he’s to maintain anything close to that output. To his credit, Winkler has also punched out a dozen of the 44 hitters he’s faced, but this marks a second straight year of questionable command in the Cubs’ bullpen for the 31-year-old Illinois native.
Ryan leads Cubs relievers in innings pitched over the past few seasons and will give Ross another lefty to work with for the time being. Thompson, who made his MLB debut when he tossed an inning earlier this year, is slated to start the second game of today’s twin bill against the Dodgers. He’s a 26-year-old back-of-the-rotation/swingman candidate who ranks 14th among Cubs farmhands at MLB.com, 23rd at FanGraphs and 28th at Baseball America. The Cubs’ rotation doesn’t have room for him when it’s at full strength, but he’ll likely be called upon for multiple spot starts in situations just as this throughout the year, when injuries pop up among the team’s top few starters.
Vargas has appeared in eight games with the Cubs dating back to a 2020 waiver claim from the Twins. He’s spent the bulk of his career with the D-backs, primarily in a utility role, and is a lifetime .252/.280/.388 hitter in 300 trips to the plate as a big leaguer. He’ll factor into the mix at second base and off the bench while Hoerner is sidelined.
Pedro Strop Takes Personal Leave From Cubs
Right-hander Pedro Strop is back home in the Dominican Republic on a leave of absence for personal reasons, NBC Sports Chicago’s Gordon Wittenmyer reports. These seem to be all the details known at this time, as the Cubs haven’t given an official comment on the situation.
A member of the Cubs from 2013-19, Strop returned to the club on a minor league deal last September, with an injury-riddled and brief (2 1/3 innings) stint with the Reds representing his only action in the 2020 season. Strop signed a new minors contract with Chicago in February and then made it to the MLB roster for a pair of scoreless innings over two appearances in April. He had been working at the Cubs’ alternate training site since April 17.
It isn’t clear when, or even if, Strop could return to action. Wittenmyer notes that Strop wasn’t included on the Triple-A roster (or the rosters of any of the Cubs’ affiliates), which is notable since the minor league season begins this week.
Cubs' Ian Happ Leaves Game After Collision
The Cubs and Reds put on a real barn-burner today in Cincinnati. Cubs’ centerfielder Ian Happ tied the game 12-12 with a three-run homer in the top of the eighth inning – the tenth deep shot of the game. Unfortunately, in the bottom half of the inning, Happ collided with second baseman Nico Hoerner on a short pop fly. Hoerner made the catch, but Happ struggled to get to his feet and was ultimately carted off the field. He appeared cognizant, but a concussion could be in play for Happ, who had three hits in his best offensive performance of the year. With Happ out, the Cubs turned to Willson Contreras, who himself was only available in case of an emergency. Contreras, however, was the last position player on the bench, so he came in to catch while Tony Wolters moved to second, Hoerner moved to left, and Kris Bryant replaced Happ in center. While we await an update on Happ, let’s get some roster updates from around the game…
Cubs Designate Brandon Workman For Assignment
The Cubs have designated right-handed reliever Brandon Workman for assignment, per a team announcement. Left-hander Justin Steele has been recalled from the alternate training site in his place.
Workman, 32, signed a one-year, $1MM contract with the Cubs late in the offseason. The contract came with an additional $2MM of available incentives for the former Red Sox closer, but his stint with the Cubs looks to be coming to a close after just eight innings.
Workman was hit hard in that brief time, surrendering six runs on a dozen hits (two homers) and seven walks with 11 strikeouts. It’s the second consecutive rough year for the hard-throwing righty, who was clobbered for a 5.95 ERA in 19 2/3 frames between the Red Sox and Phillies last summer.
Setting aside his disappointing work in 2020-21, Workman was a solid late-inning option for Boston from 2017-19. During that time he gave the BoSox 152 2/3 innings of 2.59 ERA ball while striking out just under 29 percent of the hitters he faced. Workman led the Red Sox with 16 saves in 2019 and finished second among Boston relievers with 71 2/3 innings — all while striking out more than 36 percent of his opponents.
Workman’s average fastball has dipped by more than a mile per hour since that brilliant 2019 campaign, dropping from 93.1 mph to 91.8 mph. He’s still registered a respectable swinging-strike rate since 2020 (10.7 percent), but Workman has yielded far too much hard contact and seen his already pedestrian walk rate spike to egregious levels in recent years.
The Cubs will have a week to trade Workman, try to pass him through waivers or simply release him. Based on his track record, he should land with another club if he does hit the market, but that may well have to come on a non-guaranteed pact. Offseason interest in the righty was tepid enough, after all, that he inked the aforementioned one-year, $1MM guarantee. It’s hard to imagine that a lackluster showing with the Cubs has done any favors for his stock. Still, Workman’s dominant 2019 season is a testament to his raw ability, and other clubs around the league surely have their own ideas about how to once again coax that type of performance from him.
As for the 25-year-old Steele, he made his big league debut earlier this year and rattled off 3 1/3 innings of shutout ball. Baseball America tabs him as the organization’s No. 22 prospect, characterizing him as a potential hard-throwing reliever with some command issues. Steele was a starter throughout his minor league career, but the Cubs are looking at him in the ’pen after he was rocked for a 5.59 ERA through 11 starts in a pitcher-friendly setting at Double-A in 2019.
Austin Romine To Miss Extended Time With Wrist Sprain
- Cubs catcher Austin Romine went on the injured list early this week, and it seems he’s in for an extended absence. Manager David Ross called Romine’s left wrist sprain “significant” and said the backstop would be out for a while (via Russell Dorsey of the Chicago Sun-Times). Tony Wolters was selected to the roster to back up Willson Contreras with Romine on the shelf.
