Cubs Rumors

Julian Merryweather To Undergo Knee Surgery

By Darragh McDonald | September 19, 2024 at 5:03pm CDT

Cubs right-hander Julian Merryweather will be undergoing knee surgery tomorrow, says manager Craig Counsell. As relayed by Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune on X, it will be a right patellar tendon debridement. The skipper says Merryweather is expected to be ready by Spring Training. The pitcher himself says the rehab process will take three months, per Bruce Levine of WSCR-AM on X.

Merryweather seemed to develop into a key bullpen arm for the Cubs last year, as he tossed 72 innings with a 3.38 earned run average. His 11.9% walk rate was on the high side but he punched out 32.3% of batters faced. He moved into a leverage role for the club, securing two saves and 17 holds.

He wasn’t able to carry that over into 2024. He missed over three months due to a rib stress fracture and landed on the IL a second time last month due to right knee tendinitis, with the latter issue now requiring season-ending surgery. Around those ailments, he tossed 15 innings with a 6.60 ERA. There was probably some bad luck in there, as his .375 batting average on balls in play and 63.3% strand rate this year were both on the unfortunate side, but his strikeout rate also plummeted to 18.9%.

The righty has always been a tantalizing arm thanks to his high 90s velocity, but health has often been an obstacle. The Blue Jays acquired him from Cleveland as the return for Josh Donaldson in 2018, though Merryweather was recovering from undergoing Tommy John surgery earlier that year. He made his big league debut in 2020 but has since gone on the injured list for right elbow tendinitis, a left oblique strain and a left abdominal strain. The 2023 season is the only one in which he’s been able to throw at least 27 innings.

Merryweather reached arbitration for the first time last winter. He and the Cubs agreed to a salary of $1.175MM for 2024. He’ll be due a raise for next year but it won’t be huge, on account of his limited workload this year. He could also be retained via arbitration for 2026, before he’s slated to reach free agency. He’ll turn 33 years old next month.

NL Central Notes: Hudson, Steele, Cruz

By Leo Morgenstern | September 15, 2024 at 7:11pm CDT

For most of the 2024 season, Bryan Hudson was one of the most effective relievers in the major leagues. Out of 58 relievers who have thrown at least 60 innings this year, his 1.73 ERA ranks fifth. However, since September 3, Hudson has been pitching not for the Milwaukee Brewers but for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds.

According to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Brewers decided to option Hudson to Triple-A due to concerns about his velocity and durability. The left-hander suffered a minor oblique strain at the of July and came back in mid-August. While his surface-level numbers remained impressive upon his return (2.13 ERA in 12 2/3 IP), his velocity was noticeably lower on all three of his pitches. What’s more, his strikeout rate dropped, his walk rate rose, and his 4.38 SIERA was significantly higher than his 2.98 SIERA pre-injury.

Thus, with the Brewers sitting comfortably atop the NL Central standings, it made sense to send Hudson to the minors, where he could rest up and work on his stuff away from the pressure of the show. He has made just two outings so far for the Sounds, tossing a couple of scoreless innings with four strikeouts, two hits, and no walks allowed. His fastball velocity is still down compared to where it was earlier in the season, but it’s been a little better than it was in his last few outings before his demotion. Perhaps more importantly, his fastball velocity was higher in his second Triple-A outing this month than it was in his first.

It’s unclear if the Brewers are planning to recall Hudson anytime soon, but manager Pat Murphy suggested the 27-year-old will be back in Milwaukee eventually. As Hogg reports, Murphy is “pleased” with what Hudson has accomplished in Nashville, and there’s nothing more he needs to prove. The skipper didn’t provide a timeline for Hudson to get back in the Brewers’ bullpen, but he implied that a return was on the horizon, saying “I think you’ll see him again.”

The Nashville Sounds’ season ends next Sunday. If the Brewers are hoping to have Hudson for the postseason, it would make sense to call him up once the Triple-A campaign comes to a close. That would give him a week to reacclimate to big league competition before October.

Latest On Cody Bellinger

By Nick Deeds | September 15, 2024 at 11:24am CDT

A year ago, Cubs center fielder Cody Bellinger was putting the finishing touches on a fantastic rebound campaign that saw him place in the top ten of NL MVP voting and earn his second career Silver Slugger award. On the heels of back-to-back disastrous campaigns with the Dodgers in 2021 and ’22 that led to him being non-tendered, Bellinger took a one-year deal with Chicago and slashed an excellent .307/.356/.525 (136 wRC+) with 26 home runs and 20 stolen bases, setting him up for what seemed sure to be a significant payday in free agency over the winter.

That, of course, did not come to pass. Bellinger was one of several free agents who found himself struggling to find a deal that met expectations, and ultimately returned to the Cubs on a three-year, $80MM deal that included opt-outs after each season. The 29-year-old’s second season in Chicago hasn’t quite lived up to his first, as he’s posted a .269/.332/.468 (114 wRC+) slash line in 518 trips to the plate while his elevated .319 BABIP has fallen to a .287 figure that’s more in line with his career norms and his power production has dipped to more closely match his batted ball metrics.

As Bellinger and his agent, Scott Boras, ponder whether or not to exercise his upcoming opt-out opportunity this November, it’s fair to wonder if there’s any reason for him to consider opting out coming off a worse offensive season than his previous platform year, which already resulted in a relative disappointment on the open market. Indeed, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote this morning that Bellinger is “fully expected” to remain with the Cubs rather than exercising his opt-out a returning to free agency this winter. Despite those expectations, however, the possibility that Bellinger could instead look to hit the open market for the third consecutive offseason cannot be overlooked.

After all, Bellinger’s offensive numbers this season, while worse than last year, are still well above league average. More importantly, however, his 2024 production is generally backed up by his peripheral numbers and appears likely to be sustainable for the 29-year-old. That’s thanks in part to the outfielder setting a career-best for strikeout rate for the second consecutive season this year, punching out at a 15.1% clip that’s good for 16th-best in the majors this year, just ahead of Bobby Witt Jr. and Jurickson Profar.

That improved combination of contact and discipline at the plate has helped to make up for the downturn in power production Bellinger has experienced this year, and is still more than enough to make Bellinger one of the top bats at his position in the majors. Among qualified center fielders this year, Bellinger’s aforementioned 114 wRC+ this year ranks seventh in the majors while his .332 on-base percentage is tied with Jazz Chisholm Jr. for fourth behind only AL MVP candidates Aaron Judge and Jarren Duran. Bellinger’s ability to play a quality center field while also delivering above average offense would make him stand out in a free agent class that without him would have Harrison Bader, who has hit just .244/.287/.390 (91 wRC+) in 407 trips to the plate with the Mets this year, as the top player available.

Given the fact that Bellinger also has an opt out following the 2025 season, it’s easy to imagine that he might simply be better off sticking with the Cubs, collecting a $27.5MM salary next year, and then returning to free agency prior to the 2026 season, when he would be leaving just $20MM on the table rather than the $50MM he’d forgo by opting out this year. While it’s true that a dominant offensive season from Bellinger could boost his profile, he’d also be marketing his age-30 campaign as opposed to his age-29 season and entering free agency on the wrong side of 30 can significantly depress a player’s earning potential. What’s more, he’d face much more competition in center field next year: The 2025-26 free agent class currently projects to include other notable center field options like Cedric Mullins, Willi Castro, and Trent Grisham, to say nothing of the possibility that Bader signs a one-year deal and returns to the open market himself next winter.

Bellinger’s status among free agency’s top center fielders would be diminished further by the fact that, he would almost assuredly not be used in center field next year if he were to remain with Chicago. The club’s recently-graduated top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong has already taken over center field on a regular basis in recent weeks, pairing elite defense at the position with nine homers and 27 stolen bases in just 356 trips to the plate this year. The 22-year-old’s 90 wRC+ on the season doesn’t immediately jump off the page, but it’s worth noting that he’s improved drastically over the course of the season with a .269/.319/.477 slash line (119 wRC+) since the start of July.

With Crow-Armstrong all but certain to be the club’s everyday center fielder in 2025, that would likely leave Bellinger forced to move to right field on a daily basis should he play for the Cubs next year, putting more pressure on his bat to produce at a level commensurate with the expectations of the position. Impressive as Bellinger’s offense has been for a center fielder, he ranks just 20th among 49 qualified outfielders this year in terms of wRC+, leaving him as a somewhat middling option offensively for an outfield corner. Without a significant step forward offensively next year, it’s easy to imagine Bellinger leaving money on the table by not exercising his opt-out this year and returning to free agency while he’s still under 30 years old and playing center field on a semi-regular basis.

Cubs Claim Jimmy Herget Off Waivers From Braves

By Leo Morgenstern | September 13, 2024 at 7:38pm CDT

The Cubs have claimed right-handed pitcher Jimmy Herget off waivers from the Braves, (per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune). He has been optioned to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs. To make room for Herget on the 40-man roster, Chicago recalled Brennen Davis from Iowa and placed him on the 60-day injured list. The young outfielder suffered a fractured ankle earlier this week.

The Braves designated Herget for assignment on Wednesday to make room for Cavan Biggio on the 40-man roster. The 31-year-old right-hander had appeared in eight games for Atlanta this season, tossing 12 1/3 low-leverage innings with a 4.38 ERA and 3.13 SIERA. He also pitched to a 3.06 ERA and 2.95 FIP over 17 2/3 innings with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett.

Herget has also pitched for the Reds, Rangers, and Angels throughout his six-year MLB tenure, with a career 3.54 ERA across 129 appearances. His best season came with the Angels in 2022; he threw 69 innings with nine saves, six holds, a 2.48 ERA, and a 3.26 SIERA. Unfortunately, he struggled the following year, putting up a 4.66 ERA and 4.33 SIERA over 29 innings, prompting the Angels to option him several times throughout the season. He did not make the Opening Day roster in 2024, and the Angels would DFA him before the end of April and trade him to the Braves in early May.

The journeyman reliever will now have a brief opportunity to prove himself to his new organization before the end of the season. The Iowa Cubs have eight games remaining after today, while the Cubs will have 15 games left on the calendar following their matchup with the Rockies tonight. Herget will be eligible for arbitration this winter and out options in 2025, making him a likely non-tender candidate if he fails to make a strong first impression on the Cubs.

Davis, 24, was selected to the 40-man roster during the 2022-23 offseason but has yet to make an appearance in an MLB game. The young outfielder had an .828 OPS and a 116 wRC+ in 47 games at Triple-A this season. Unfortunately, this is his third time landing on the injured list in 2024. Davis was a consensus top 100 prospect in baseball as recently as 2022, but injuries and poor performance in 2022 and ’23 have raised serious questions about his major league future.

Cubs To Place Justin Steele On Injured List

By Darragh McDonald | September 4, 2024 at 5:30pm CDT

5:30pm: Right-hander Jack Neely will be recalled as the corresponding move for Steele, per Montemurro on X.

4:35pm: The Cubs announced to reporters that left-hander Justin Steele will be placed on the 15-day injured list. His issue is left elbow flexor tendinitis, per Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times on X. The corresponding move has not been revealed yet.

Steele was supposed to start Monday’s game but was scratched due to some elbow soreness. The Cubs took a couple of days to evaluate things and have now seemingly decided that Steele will need some down time.

Manager Craig Counsell tells Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune (X link) that it’s possible Steele could be back after a minimum stint, depending on how things develop in the next ten days. “If we can get him back to normal he’s gonna pitch,” Counsell says. Presumably, Steele’s IL placement will be backdated by three days, the maximum allowed. That means he could technically be back in 12 days if everything goes well.

Whether that’s a realistic expectation or not will be revealed in time. Either way, it’s a blow for the Cubs in the short term. The club is still clinging to contention here in September, currently sitting 4.5 games back of a playoff spot. The lefty has 477 1/3 innings under his belt at this point with a 3.24 earned run average. That includes 128 innings this year with a 3.09 ERA, 24.9% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate and 48.4% ground ball rate.

Losing that kind of performer will hurt a club with little room for error. Jordan Wicks was just reinstated from the injured list a few days ago, so the club can still have a five-man rotation without Steele, with Wicks slotting in next to Jameson Taillon, Shota Imanaga, Javier Assad and Kyle Hendricks. It’s been a rough year for Hendricks, who currently sports a 6.60 ERA overall and was been bumped to the bullpen earlier in the season. Perhaps the return of Wicks would have sent him to a relief role again but that might not be possible now that Steele has been subtracted from the equation.

Cubs Place Jorge López On Injured List

By Darragh McDonald | September 4, 2024 at 4:05pm CDT

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

By Mark Polishuk | September 1, 2024 at 3:25pm CDT

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

By Nick Deeds | August 31, 2024 at 9:13pm CDT

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

By Anthony Franco | August 30, 2024 at 9:20pm CDT

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

By Anthony Franco | August 30, 2024 at 4:42pm CDT

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.

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