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Cubs Place Jorge López On Injured List

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The Cubs have placed right-hander Jorge López on the 15-day injured list due to a right groin strain, with fellow righty Trey Wingenter recalled as the corresponding move. Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune was among those to relay the news on X.

López, 31, was added to the Cubs’ roster at the end of June and he quickly took on a prominent role in the club’s bullpen. In just over two months as a Cub, he made 22 appearances, logging 24 2/3 innings. He allowed 2.19 earned runs per nine, struck out 28% of batters faced, limited walks to an 8% clip and got grounders on 60.3% of balls in play. He recorded a pair of saves and three holds.

Now he’ll be removed from the club’s high-leverage relief mix, which is an unfortunate blow to a bullpen that has been fairly unstable this year. Adbert Alzolay took over the closer’s job last year but he spent a lot of 2024 on the injured list and eventually required Tommy John surgery in August. Héctor Neris grabbed the closer’s role for most of this season but was shaky enough to get released in August and has since signed with the Astros. Mark Leiter Jr. was one of Chicago’s key setup men but he was traded to the Yankees prior to the deadline. Other key pieces like Yency Almonte and Julian Merryweather are on the injured list at the moment.

All of those issues opened the door for López to step up but now he, too, will be unavailable. It’s unclear exactly when he sustained this injury but perhaps it explains his poor results the last time out. Though his numbers as a Cub have been great overall, they were even better before Monday, when he faced the Pirates and allowed four earned runs on four hits, including two home runs.

The Cubs are 4.5 games out of a playoff spot and still in the race, but will now have to proceed without López. That will likely leave some combination of Porter Hodge, Drew Smyly and Tyson Miller taking the important bullpen roles. The club’s pitching staff also took another hit today, with Justin Steele also heading to the injured list.

Orioles Sign Adrian Houser To Minors Contract

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The Orioles announced yesterday that right-hander Adrian Houser was signed to a minor league contract.  Houser had been in the Cubs organization on a minors deal but he was released yesterday, paving the way for the righty to quickly latch on with a new team.

Because Houser joined the O’s before the September 1 cutoff date, he is eligible to be added to a playoff roster.  However, the veteran hasn’t done much this season that would seemingly merit postseason action, as Houser has a 5.84 ERA over 69 1/3 innings with the Mets as well as a subpar 10.4% walk rate and a 14.6% strikeout rate that is among the lowest in baseball.

While Houser pitched better after being moved out of New York’s rotation and into a long relief role, the Mets opted to release him at the end of July, and the Cubs didn’t feel compelled to call Houser up during his few weeks at Triple-A Iowa.  Houser was used as a starter again in Iowa and had a 3.86 ERA and 6.6% walk rate in 18 2/3 frames, but still with a 15.8K%.

Strikeouts have never been Houser’s game, as he has relied on grounders and soft contact to find success over his eight MLB seasons.  Batted-ball luck tended to weigh heavier on Houser’s bottom-line results given the nature of his approach on the mound, but he had overall decent results in seven seasons with the Brewers before he was traded to the Mets last December.

The Orioles have been hammered by rotation injuries all season, and their attempts to bolster the staff at the deadline went awry when Trevor Rogers struggled so much that he was optioned to Triple-A.  Zach Eflin was another pre-deadline pickup who was sidelined by injury, but returned from the IL today to give the O’s a rotation of Eflin, Corbin Burnes, Dean Kremer, Albert Suarez, and Cade Povich.

Houser adds some experienced rotation depth to that mix, and since Kremer left yesterday’s game with a forearm contusion, Houser might get a call to the majors sooner rather than later.  Baltimore might also look to use Houser in the bullpen, as a solid long man could bolster the pitching staff in another manner, and perhaps lead to something of a piggyback situation with Houser and another starter.

Houser is still owed around $840K of his $5.05MM salary for 2024.  The Orioles would be paying only the prorated portion of a MLB minimum salary if he joins their active roster, with the Mets covering the remainder of the owed salary.

Cubs Activate Jordan Wicks From 60-Day IL

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September 1: Chicago has officially announced the activation of Wicks. Infielder Nick Madrigal was placed on the 60-day injured list due to a left pinkie fracture in a corresponding move. Madrigal was optioned to the minors back in June and suffered the fracture during his first game back at Triple-A. He’s been on the minor league IL ever since but has now been transferred to the big league IL in order to clear his spot on the 40-man roster.

August 31: The Cubs are set to activate left-hander Jordan Wicks from the 60-day IL tomorrow, manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Megan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune) earlier this evening. Wicks is scheduled to take the ball for tomorrow’s start against the Nationals in D.C. in a move that will push back the next start of right-hander Jameson Taillon. An active roster move won’t be necessary to make room for Wicks due to tomorrow’s scheduled roster expansion, but Chicago will still need to clear a spot on their 40-man roster in order to activate Wicks.

The lefty’s return to the majors is something of a birthday present for him, as he’ll turn 25 tomorrow. The youngster was the Cubs’ first-round pick back in 2021 and made his big league debut late last season. Since then, he’s pitched to roughly league average results with solid peripherals. His 4.31 ERA is almost exactly league average (99 ERA+), but his 3.98 FIP paints a somewhat rosier picture. Wicks was off to a strong start in 28 innings of work this year with a 25% strikeout rate against a 7.8% walk rate that left him with an impressive 3.10 FIP and 3.80 SIERA, but the southpaw has struggled to stay healthy this year.

After an elbow scare that proved to be insignificant cost him the month of May, Wicks has now missed two and a half months due to an oblique strain he suffered in mid June. Now that he’s healthy again, the youngster figures to slot back into the club’s rotation on a regular basis down the stretch. While the Cubs still sit on the periphery of the playoff race with a 70-66 record that leaves them four games back of a Wild Card spot, with playoff odds of just 5.4% per Fangraphs it seems likely that the focus for Wicks down the stretch will be establishing himself as a healthy and effective rotation option for the Cubs headed into next season.

Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga are poised to return next season as a strong top-of-the-rotation duo, while Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad figure to continue holding down the middle of the club’s rotation after solid seasons of their own. Franchise icon and 11-year MLB veteran Kyle Hendricks appears all but certain not to return in 2025, however, as the pending free agent has struggled to a ghastly 6.75 ERA in 102 2/3 innings of work this year. That leaves regular starts available in the club’s rotation next year that a number of young arms could look to capitalize on, including Wicks, right-hander Ben Brown, and top pitching prospect Cade Horton.

In the short term, however, the Cubs will have to decide how they want to set up their rotation for the stretch run this September. With Wicks back and Steele, Imanaga, Taillon, Assad, and Hendricks all healthy, they club could opt for a six man rotation or once again demote Hendricks to the bullpen. While the former would offer the club the opportunity to manage Imanaga’s innings as he continues his transition from NPB play to the majors, the latter is the route they took when they faced a rotation crunch back in May, when Hendricks was sporting a brutal 10.57 ERA through seven starts.

The soft-tossing righty’s 5.62 ERA in 12 starts since returning to the rotation has been an improvement over that aforementioned eye-popping figure, it’s still well below average, and given that reality it would hardly be a surprise if the Cubs moved him back to the multi-inning relief role that saw him post a solid 3.08 ERA and 4.18 FIP in 14 1/3 innings earlier this year. That’s particularly true given the fact that Imanaga has thrown just 146 2/3 innings so far this year, a figure that’s a good bit lower than the 170 frames that represents his career high during his time in Japan.

Cubs Release Tomas Nido

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The Cubs released catcher Tomás Nido, tweets Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. Nido had been on the 10-day injured list but was occupying a 40-man roster spot. Chicago needed to create a 40-man vacancy to finalize their claim of reliever Shawn Armstrong from St. Louis.

Nido has been on the IL since July 25 with a meniscus injury that required right knee surgery. The Cubs sent him on a rehab stint with Triple-A Iowa last night. That suggests he’s nearing a return, but the Cubs no longer felt they needed him in the catching corps. Chicago called up Christian Bethancourt once Nido landed on the shelf. He has mashed over 11 games in the backup role. Starter Miguel Amaya, meanwhile, has a huge .337/.375/.554 slash since the All-Star Break. It’s a huge turnaround after the 25-year-old hit .201/.266/.288 in the first half.

Since Nido’s injury, Cubs’ catchers own an MLB-leading .327/.358/.634 batting line. Chicago’s catchers almost instantaneously flipped from one of the league’s worst groups to being among the best for the last month. There’s not much of a reason to make a change. The Cubs could have carried three catchers for September but probably would not have had many at-bats available for Nido.

Chicago has put the 30-year-old on waivers. He’d be a free agent if he goes unclaimed, though there may not be enough time for him to catch on elsewhere while still remaining eligible for postseason play with his new club. If another team claimed him or signed him to a big league contract, they’d only be responsible for the prorated portion of the league minimum. The Mets are otherwise paying his $2.1MM salary in the second season of a two-year contract.

Nido is a career .210/.245/.309 hitter over parts of eight seasons. He’s obviously not going to bring much to the table offensively but has a strong defensive reputation. Statcast grades him highly for his pitch framing acumen and arm strength.

Cubs Claim Shawn Armstrong

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The Cubs have claimed reliever Shawn Armstrong from the Cardinals, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (X link). St. Louis had designated the righty for assignment on Tuesday.

Armstrong’s DFA ended a brief run in St. Louis. The Cards acquired him from the Rays at the trade deadline in a swap sending former top prospect Dylan Carlson to Tampa Bay. Armstrong pitched well in St. Louis, running a 12:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio while allowing only four runs in 12 2/3 innings. That was quite a bit better than the 5.40 earned run average he’d posted across 46 2/3 frames with Tampa Bay earlier in the year.

While Armstrong held up his end of the bargain, the Cardinals have had a tough month. They’ve dropped six games back of the last Wild Card spot. The front office has conceded the unlikelihood of a playoff run by waiving Armstrong and Tommy Pham, the two impending free agents they’d acquired at the deadline. Doing so allows them to offload what remains of Armstrong’s $2.05MM arbitration salary; they’d save the prorated portion of Pham’s $3MM deal if another team were to claim him.

The Cardinals lose Armstrong to their rivals, who are only one game closer to a postseason spot. Chicago enters play on Friday five games back of the Braves in the Wild Card mix. As with St. Louis, they’re long shots to get to the playoffs. The Cubs are riding a three-game win streak and kicking off a stretch of winnable games against the Nationals and Pirates. The front office isn’t completely throwing in the towel, adding to a bullpen that has pitched well over the past six weeks.

At 68-66, the Cubs had a higher waiver priority than any team that currently occupies a playoff spot (plus the Mariners, Red Sox and Mets). They’ll assume roughly $330K in salary commitments, plus another $66K in estimated luxury tax payments, to plug Armstrong into the bullpen for the season’s final month. Assuming the claim is officially processed tomorrow, he’d be eligible for Chicago’s playoff roster if they made a furious push to snag a spot.

Cubs Expected To Pursue Catching Upgrade In Offseason

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There are multiple driving factors behind the Cubs’ disappointing 2024 season, but one of the most prominent flaws has been a catching corps that ranks near the bottom of the league in terms of offensive production. By measure of wRC+, only the last-place White Sox and Marlins have received lesser contributions than the Cubs’ collective .221/.265/.352 from their backstops.

The quartet of Yan Gomes, Miguel Amaya, Tomas Nido and Christian Bethancourt have accounted for all of the Cubs’ plate appearances at catcher this season. And while Amaya has turned things around of late — he’s hitting .358/.402/.589 over his past 105 plate appearances — adding some catching help remains a “priority” for the Cubs in the forthcoming offseason, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reports.

As Sharma explains at greater length, Amaya’s turnaround isn’t necessarily a small-sample fluke. He changed his setup in the batter’s box and ditched his leg kick for a toe-tap back in early July, and his results have taken off since. At the same time, it’s only 105 plate appearances (during which he has a .372 BABIP), and the Cubs understandably aren’t ready to put all their eggs in that one basket just yet.

Adding catching help is a natural goal for the Cubs, not only because of the 2024 group’s overall dearth of production but also because the lineup generally needs more offense but lacks clear areas for potential change. In the outfield, Ian Happ, Cody Bellinger, Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong are locked into a rotation. It’s possible Bellinger triggers an opt-out in his contract at season’s end, but he’s no lock to do so when he’s hitting .269/.328/.423 on the season.

Around the infield, things are mostly set with deadline pickup Isaac Paredes at third base, Dansby Swanson at shortstop, Nico Hoerner at second and Michael Busch at first. The Cubs don’t have a set designated hitter, but with four outfielders all meriting regular playing time, one of that quartet can line up as the DH on any given day.

It’s at least possible the Cubs could look to shake up the current group on the offseason trade market, but their options there are limited. Swanson, Happ and Suzuki all have no-trade clauses. Paredes was only just acquired and isn’t going to be moved so quickly. Busch has had a productive rookie season and has five additional seasons of club control. Crow-Armstrong started slow at the plate but has picked up steam of late — and he’s an elite defender who’s gone 26-for-27 in stolen base attempts. Like Busch, he has five seasons of club control remaining.

The middle infield has been a letdown for the Cubs in terms of offensive production. Swanson hit .244/.328/.416 with 22 homers in his first season as a Cub last year but has dipped to .229/.303/.369 this season. He’s still playing exceptional defense, however, and as previously noted cannot be traded without his consent. (The remaining five years on his contract wouldn’t generate huge interest on the heels of a down season at the plate anyhow.) Hoerner’s name popped up on the rumor mill prior to this season’s deadline, with the Dodgers reportedly among the interested teams. He’s hitting .257/.326/.351 as of this writing. Like Swanson, it’s sub-par offense that’s paired with premium defense and baserunning. Hoerner is signed through 2026 and was an above-average hitter as recently as 2023.

All told, the Cubs’ lineup is largely set, with the exception of next year’s starting catcher. Amaya has another month to stake his claim to that role, but catcher is a natural spot for president of baseball ops Jed Hoyer to look to inject some life into his lineup. The Cubs reportedly pursued young Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe prior to the deadline, so it’s hardly a surprise to see that they’re gearing up to look for upgrades this winter.

That said, the upcoming class of free agents doesn’t include a clear-cut answer. Danny Jansen is the top option on the open market, but after hitting .237/.317/.487 (121 wRC+ from 2021-23, he’s stumbled with a .214/.303/.363 slash this season (90 wRC+). Gary Sanchez, Elias Diaz and Carson Kelly are among the other options, but none is a clear candidate to serve as a meaningful upgrade.

The Cubs have a strong farm system and could use some of that prospect depth to pursue alternatives. Their interest in O’Hoppe suggests they’ve perhaps already laid the groundwork on some pursuits of this nature. There’s no indication the Angels are open to moving O’Hoppe, but the Cubs could revisit that scenario. There are other clubs with ample catching depth to spare. The Dodgers have Will Smith signed for another decade but prospects Dalton Rushing and Diego Cartaya behind him (though the latter hasn’t hit well in Triple-A and has seen his stock drop considerably). The Mariners have Cal Raleigh locked in at catcher, but 2021 first-rounder and top prospect Harry Ford isn’t far from MLB readiness. Perhaps the A’s would be open to moving Shea Langeliers and his 22 home runs as he gets another step closer to arbitration.

That’s a speculative list of options, to be clear, but the underlying point remains clear. The Cubs have a need to improve the lineup but little flexibility as they strive to do so, with catcher the most straightforward option. But while that’s a straightforward need, the path to achieve it is obscured by a lack of impactful free agents and clear impact trade candidates at a generally thin position.

Cubs Reportedly Place Drew Smyly On Waivers

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The Cubs have placed veteran reliever Drew Smyly on waivers, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (X link). Smyly has not been designated for assignment and can continue to play for Chicago pending resolution of the waiver process. The placement is irrevocable, however, so Smyly would land with another team in the next two days if anyone places a claim.

In situations like this, the team is hoping that the player will be claimed to offload the salary. That’d be a big ask in this case. Smyly is playing on a $10.5MM salary. There’s around $1.9MM remaining. The deal also includes a $2.5MM buyout on a $10MM mutual option for next season. A claiming team would need to assume the entirety of that sum. It amounts to nearly $4.5MM for one month plus potential playoff work of Smyly’s services.

The 35-year-old southpaw has turned in solid results in his first full season as a reliever. Smyly carries a 2.84 ERA over 50 2/3 frames. His 20.4% strikeout rate and 10.8% swinging strike percentage are pedestrian, but he has kept left-handed hitters to a .226/.293/.310 slash in 92 plate appearances.

There’s not much downside for the Cubs in gauging if a contender is willing to take on Smyly’s money to strengthen their lefty relief group. Chicago is 5.5 games out of a Wild Card spot with four teams to surpass. They’re a postseason long shot. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer confirmed last week that the team is on pace to exceed the $237MM luxury tax threshold (link via Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic). It’s not clear how far over the threshold they are, but RosterResource’s unofficial estimate of the team’s payroll has them less than $500K above the line. If they could shed what remains of Smyly’s salary, it’s possible that would suffice to get underneath the CBT mark.

If Smyly goes unclaimed, the Cubs can keep him in the bullpen for the remainder of the season. They do not need to release him or attempt to outright him to the minor leagues.

Cubs Outright David Bote

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The Cubs have sent veteran infielder David Bote outright to Triple-A Iowa, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. He had been designated for assignment on Friday when the Cubs claimed Gavin Hollowell off of waivers from the Diamondbacks.

Bote has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency. However, he is a few days shy of the five years of MLB service time he would need to reject the assignment without forfeiting the guaranteed salary remaining on the five-year, $16MM contract he signed with the Cubs during the 2019 campaign. With just under 20% of the season left to play, that works out to about $1.05MM in salary this year, plus a $1MM buyout on his club option for 2025. That’s significantly more money than Bote could command if he elected free agency and signed on with a new team, so he will almost certainly accept the assignment and report to the Iowa Cubs.

In 37 games for the Chicago Cubs this year, Bote hit .304 with a 105 wRC+ over 48 plate appearances. He spent most of his time playing third base, though he also filled in at first and second. Despite his positional versatility and solid offensive numbers off the bench, he was an easy choice for the Cubs to DFA when they needed to free up a spot on the 40-man roster. Not only has he struggled over the past month (2-for-12 since the All-Star break), but given his unique contract situation, the Cubs knew they could remove him from the roster without the risk of losing him completely. Thus, he will continue to serve as additional depth for the team at Triple-A, where he has 37 doubles, 21 home runs, and a 109 wRC+ in 126 games over the past two seasons.

Cubs Claim Gavin Hollowell, Designate David Bote

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The Cubs have claimed right-hander Gavin Hollowell off waivers from the Diamondbacks and optioned him to Triple-A Iowa. The Snakes had designated him for assignment a few days ago. To open a 40-man roster spot, the Cubs have designated infielder David Bote for assignment. Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune was among those to relay the news on X.

Hollowell, 26, was drafted by the Rockies and was with that organization until recently. The Diamondbacks claimed him off waivers in June and now he moves via another waiver claim, this time landing with the Cubs.

The interest from clubs likely stems from his big strikeout numbers in the minors, though he has also given out a large number of walks and hasn’t yet transferred those punchouts to the major league level.

The Rockies put him into 30 games over the 2022 and 2023 seasons and he pitched 40 2/3 innings with a 6.20 earned run average. He struck out 21.5% of batters faced in that time and gave out walks at an 11.8% rate. But since the start of 2023, he has thrown 47 minor league innings and struck out 27.9% of batters faced. That’s come with an elevated 13% walk rate and a 4.60 ERA, but clubs are always interested in missing bats.

He still has one option year after this one, so the Cubs could give him a lot of rope in the minors to see if he can rein in his stuff. If he does so, he has less than a year of service time and therefore comes with many years of club control and is still far away from qualifying for arbitration.

Bote, 31, signed an extension with the Cubs in April of 2019, a five-year pact that guaranteed him over $15MM. He served in a multi-positional role for a while but his results eventually tailed off, at least partially due to some injury troubles.

He was outrighted off the roster at the end of 2022 with two guaranteed years still left on his deal. Since he had more than three years of service time, he could have elected free agency, but doing so would have meant walking away from the remaining money on his contract since he was shy of the five-year service mark. Naturally, he stayed with the club and has been with them in a non-roster capacity until they selected his contract again in June.

He has a solid .304/.333/.391 batting line in his 48 plate appearances this year but that’s being held up by an unsustainable .424 batting average on balls in play. He has no home runs in that time and a 4.2% walk rate.

With the trade deadline now passed, the Cubs will have to put Bote on waivers in the coming days. It’s unlikely that any club would claim him and take on the remainder of his contract. He’s making $5.5MM this year with still roughly $1.1MM left to be paid out. There’s also a $1MM buyout on a $7MM club option for 2025.

Bote is still shy of five years of service time, meaning he still doesn’t have the right to reject an outright assignment and keep all of his money. Assuming he passes through waivers unclaimed, he will presumably accept another outright assignment and provide the Cubs with depth in a non-roster capacity.

Cubs Release Josh Staumont

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The Cubs released reliever Josh Staumont from his minor league contract, tweets Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register. It’s not clear if the right-hander triggered an opt-out or if the Cubs simply decided they weren’t going to call him up.

In either case, Staumont returns to the market just two weeks after signing with Chicago. The 30-year-old pitched twice for Chicago’s top affiliate in Iowa. He walked five batters while recording only three outs. Staumont had run a much more impressive 16:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 10 2/3 frames with the Twins’ top affiliate earlier in the season. He clearly did not have any kind of command in his very small sample in Iowa.

A former second-round pick of the Royals, Staumont pitched parts of five seasons with Kansas City. He posted an above-average 26.2% strikeout rate but walked more than 13% of batters faced through 168 1/3 innings. The Royals non-tendered him last winter. Staumont signed a big league deal with Minnesota that guaranteed him $950K. He made 25 appearances for the Twins, working to a 3.70 ERA over 24 1/3 innings. His walks remained high and his strikeout rate dropped sharply to 17.6%, so Minnesota cut him loose when they brought in Trevor Richards at the trade deadline.

Staumont’s camp can again look for minor league opportunities for the next few weeks. He’d need to sign with a team by September 1 to be eligible for postseason play with his new club, though that’s a secondary consideration to pitching his way back to the majors.

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