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Cubs Select Johneshwy Fargas, Tyler Ladendorf

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The Cubs are selecting outfielder Johneshwy Fargas and infielder Tyler Ladendorf to the major league roster, the team informed reporters (including Jordan Bastian of MLB.com). Outfielder Nick Martini and infielder David Bote were placed on the COVID-19 injured list in corresponding moves. Additionally, Chicago placed infielder Nico Hoerner on the 10-day IL due to right oblique tightness and recalled righty Cory Abbott to start this evening’s game.

Fargas opened this season with the Mets after signing a minor league deal last winter. He popped four extra-base hits in his first 22 MLB plate appearances but landed on the injured list after hurting his shoulder running into an outfield wall. By the time he returned, the Mets’ previously-injured outfield had returned to health and he was squeezed back off the roster. Chicago claimed him off waivers but designated him for assignment themselves just a few weeks later.

Between the two clubs, Fargas hit .277/.292/.426 over 49 trips to the dish. He’s hitting .246/.295/.395 in a bit more playing time at Triple-A. Now that he’s back on the 40-man roster, Fargas technically remains controllable for the foreseeable future. It’s possible the Cubs remove him from the roster again after this final weekend of play, though. If that were to happen, the 26-year-old would qualify for minor league free agency this offseason.

Ladendorf is back in the big leagues for the first time in five years. He picked up 68 plate appearances between 2015-16 with the A’s but hasn’t played at the highest level since. The right-handed hitter has bounced between a few Triple-A clubs and independent ball, landing with the Cubs on a minor league deal in May. Through 210 plate appearances with their top farm team in Iowa, the 33-year-old Ladendorf hit .241/.297/.424 with eight homers.

Cubs Outright Dillon Maples

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SEPTEMBER 21: Maples cleared waivers and has been sent outright to Triple-A Iowa, Russell Dorsey of the Chicago Sun-Times was among those to pass along. He doesn’t have the requisite service time to refuse an outright assignment, so he’ll remain in the organization for the rest of the season. However, Maples will qualify for minor league free agency this offseason unless he’s reselected to the 40-man roster before the end of the year.

SEPTEMBER 19: The Cubs have activated Nico Hoerner and Keegan Thompson from the 10-day injured list.  To create two roster spots for the returning players, outfielder Nick Martini was optioned to Triple-A while right-hander Dillon Maples was designated for assignment.

Maples is out of minor league options, which is why Chicago had to take the DFA route to remove the 29-year-old from the active roster.  A veteran of parts of five MLB seasons, Maples had an 8.49 ERA over 23 1/3 career innings for the 2017-20 Cubs before posting a 2.59 ERA in 31 1/3 frames in 2021.

However, Maples has benefited from a .203 BABIP, as his SIERA is 4.64 and his walk rate is an ungainly 18%.  Control has been a persistent issue for Maples at both the Major League and minor league levels, and the Cubs seem to have seen enough.

“There’s some people in the organization that feel like we’ve just run out of time,” manager David Ross told NBC Sports Chicago’s Gordon Wittenmyer and other reporters.  “We wish [Maples] the best in his career and hopefully for his sake he catches on with somebody, and he’s able to have a long, successful major-league career.  It just doesn’t look right now at this time like it’s going to be with us.”

Thompson will start today’s game against the Brewers after missing a little over two weeks due to right shoulder inflammation.  The right-hander has shuttled up and down from Triple-A Iowa a few times this season, with a 3.54 ERA to show for his first 48 1/3 career innings in the big leagues.  Working mostly as a reliever, Thompson has managed that respectable ERA despite some unimpressive peripherals, including a 12.8% walk rate.

Hoerner suffered a right oblique strain at the end of July, and thanks to previous IL trips due to a left hamstring strain and a left forearm strain, Hoerner has played in only 39 games.  The former top prospect has at least hit decently well (.312/.388/.388 in 152 PA) when he has been able to play, and the Cubs will certainly be interested in evaluating Hoerner over the season’s last two weeks to help determine his role with the 2022 team and beyond.

Cubs Select Nick Martini

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The Cubs announced they’ve selected corner outfielder Nick Martini to the big league roster. Fellow outfielder Michael Hermosillo is landing on the 10-day injured list with a left forearm strain. Chicago already had a vacancy on the 40-man roster after designating Andrew Romine for assignment earlier in the week.

Martini is back for his second stint with the Cubs this year. The Illinois native signed a minor league deal with Chicago over the offseason and was selected to the major league roster in early May. He only appeared in twelve games over the next few weeks before being designated for assignment and passed through outright waivers. Martini has spent most of the year with the Cubs’ top affiliate in Iowa, where he’s hit .267/.387/.444 with eleven home runs over 323 plate appearances.

That’s in line with Martini’s general production over the course of his career. He has long drawn walks at a very strong clip and posted gaudy minor league numbers, and he’s found some success against big league pitching as well. Over 303 MLB plate appearances, the left-handed hitting Martini owns a solid .261/.363/.366 line. He has yet to carve out a consistent regular role in the majors, though, with teams deterred by his lack of power and limited defensive value.

Hermosillo will not return this season, bench coach Andy Green told reporters (including Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune). The 26-year-old was called up a few weeks ago after a monster season at Iowa. He popped three home runs in just 38 MLB plate appearances, but Hermosillo also struck out twelve times and drew just one walk en route to a .194 batting average and a .237 on-base percentage.

Outrighted: Martini, Minaya

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The latest outrights from around Major League Baseball:

  • Cubs outfielder Nick Martini has accepted an assignment to Triple-A Iowa after clearing waivers, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune was among those to report. Martini – who signed a minor league contract with the Cubs in the offseason – earned a promotion in early May but went just 1-for-12 in the bigs before they designated him for assignment last week. The 30-year-old former Athletic and Padre has enjoyed some success in the majors, though, as shown by his .261/.363/.366 line across 303 plate appearances.
  • Righty Juan Minaya will stay with the Twins after accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A St. Paul, Dan Hayes of The Athletic tweets. The club designated Minaya over the weekend after he yielded three earned runs on five hits (including two homers) and put up four strikeouts against three walks in 6 1/3 innings. It was the first major league action for the 30-year-old since his run with the White Sox from 2016-19. He joined the Twins on a minors pact over the winter.

Cubs Activate Jason Heyward, Designate Nick Martini, Claim Dakota Chalmers

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3:47PM: Left-hander Brad Wieck was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move for Abbott’s call-up, the Cubs announced.

3:14PM: The Cubs announced a trio of roster moves, including Jason Heyward’s activation from the 10-day injured list.  (The Athletic’s Meghan Montemurro was among those to report the news.)  Chicago also designated outfielder Nick Martini for assignment, thus opening up a 40-man roster spot for right-hander Dakota Chalmers, who was claimed off waivers from the Twins.  Right-hander Cory Abbott is also being called up from Triple-A to make his big league debut, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports (via Twitter)

A left hamstring strain forced Heyward to the IL on May 20, and the injury hiatus could allow the veteran outfielder something of a reset of his season.  Heyward has hit just .183/.254/.341 over his first 138 plate appearances, an unfortunate slow start after the strong numbers he posted during the 2020 season.  Through Heyward’s tenure in Wrigleyville (he’s in the sixth year of an eight-year, $184MM contract) has been marked by a lack of offensive production, Heyward was one of the team’s best bats in 2020, hitting .265/.392/.456 with six homers over 181 PA.

Martini was signed to a minor league deal in February, and saw his contract selected by the Cubs in May.  The 30-year-old Illinois native has appeared in 12 games this season, mostly working as a pinch-hitter but he was only 1-for-12 in 15 total plate appearances.  Martini has hit .261/.363/.366 over 303 total PA with the A’s, Padres, and Cubs at the MLB level, though much of that production came with Oakland during his 2018 rookie season.  Martini has experience at all three outfield positions as well as first base, so this versatility and his knack for setting on base could potentially entice another team to claim him off the waiver wire.

Speaking of waiver claims, Chalmers joins the Cubs after being DFA’ed by Minnesota earlier this week.  Chalmers made his debut at the Double-A level this season but the results haven’t been good, with a 9.49 ERA over 12 1/3 innings.  Between Tommy John surgery and the canceled 2020 minor league season, Chalmers tossed only 39 2/3 total frames from the start of the 2018 season to the start of the 2021 minor league campaign.

Abbott has only a 6.39 ERA in 25 1/3 innings at Triple-A Iowa this season, his first experience of Triple-A ball.  The 25-year-old will still get a look in the Show, potentially as a starter or as a reliever.  MLB Pipeline ranks Abbott 15th on its list of the Cubs’ top 30 prospects, with his slider and curveball acting as his top pitches.  “With an easy delivery that he repeats well and a fearlessness about challenging hitters, Abbott provides consistent strikes,” according to the Pipeline scouting report.  Abbott was a second-round pick for the Cubs in the 2017 draft, and he posted some solid numbers in his first three pro seasons before hitting his Triple-A struggles.

Cubs Designate Kyle Ryan, Select Nick Martini, Place Ian Happ On 10-Day IL

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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.

Cubs Option Kyle Ryan

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The Cubs have optioned lefty Kyle Ryan to Triple-A Iowa, the team announced amid a series of roster moves Friday.

Ryan, 29, leads all Cubs relievers in total appearances (91) and innings pitched (76 2/3) dating back to the 2019 season, but he missed the beginning of camp while on the Covid-19 related injured list and has yet to get into an official Spring Training game. He’ll build up with the minor league side of camp and at the team’s alternate training site to begin the season, but based on his usage over the past couple of seasons, he should get another look in the big leagues once he’s ready to go.

While the 2020 season was a struggle for Ryan — 5.17 ERA and five homers allowed in 15 2/3 innings — he was one of the Cubs’ most effective bullpen members in 2019. He racked up 61 innings that season, pitching to a 3.54 ERA with a 22.4 percent strikeout rate, an 11.2 percent walk rate and a whopping 58.2 percent ground-ball rate. That showing was enough that, in spite of his 2020 struggles, the Cubs tendered Ryan a contract this winter and agreed to a one-year, $800K deal with him. Ryan’s contract is a split contract, meaning he’ll earn at that $800K rate in the Majors but a $250K rate in the minors.

As Ryan builds back up, his absence could open the door for Brad Wieck or non-roster southpaw Rex Brothers to make the team as a second lefty in David Ross’ bullpen. (Former Phillies lefty Adam Morgan signed a minors deal with the Cubs, too, but is still mending from flexor surgery.) At present, Andrew Chafin is the lone left-handed lock for a bullpen job.

The Cubs also optioned James Norwood and Justin Steele today, and they reassigned five non-roster veterans to minor league camp: Joe Biagini, Jose Lobaton, Michael Hermosillo, Nick Martini and Ian Miller.

Cubs Agree To Minor League Deals With Rex Brothers, Joe Biagini

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The Cubs have agreed to a handful of minor league pacts, Baseball America’s Chris Hilburn-Trenkle reports in his latest minor transactions roundup. Left-hander Rex Brothers, right-hander Joe Biagini, outfielder Nick Martini and corner infielder Patrick Wisdom have all joined the organization. Presumably, they’ll all be in big league camp.

Brothers, 33, tossed 3 1/3 innings with the Cubs last year and was tagged for three runs in that time. He spent the bulk of the season at Chicago’s alternate training site. Brothers looked the part of a potential lights-out reliever early in his career, logging a 2.82 ERA and 29.2 percent strikeout rate through his first 175 2/3 innings with the Rockies in 2011-13.

Brothers struggled through a brutal 2014 season, however, and he’s only pitched sparingly in the Majors since that time (37 1/3 total innings). Overall, the lefty carries a 3.84 ERA in the big leagues, but all of his success came in that early Rockies run. He’s punched out nearly 34 percent of hitters faced in parts of six Triple-A seasons, though, and his ability to miss bats continues to intrigue teams even if it’s paired with shaky control.

Biagini, 30, had a strong rookie season with the Blue Jays as a Rule 5 pick back in 2016. Toronto tried to move him into the rotation in 2017, though, and over the next two years he struggled in that role and in a return to the bullpen.

Biagini looked to have righted the ship in 2019, pitching to a 3.78 ERA through 50 frames before being traded to the Astros alongside Aaron Sanchez, but his brief tenure in Houston proved to be a nightmare. In 19 innings from 2019-20, he yielded 22 runs on 31 hits (seven homers) and 13 walks. He’s had success out of the ’pen on multiple occasions with the Jays, and he can perhaps give Chicago some right-handed depth in that regard.

Martini, also 30, has been an OBP machine in the upper minors and even in his brief time at the MLB level. From 2018-19 between the A’s and Padres, he slashed .269/.372/.380 in 288 trips to the plate. The left-handed-hitting Martini has had similar OBP-driven value at the plate in Triple-A, where he’s a .305/.401/.435 hitter in more than 1400 plate appearances. For a Cubs team that has wanted to cut down on its strikeouts, he’s an intriguing depth option to stash in the event of an injury at the big league level. Martini has experience at all three outfield spots but has worked mostly in the corners in recent minor league seasons.

The 29-year-old Wisdom was hitless with two plate appearances as a Cub in 2020 and carries a .218/.299/.397 batting line through 88 plate appearances over the past three seasons. The longtime Cardinals prospect has shown some power at the Triple-A level but has also been prone to strikeouts there. He’s a .252/.328/.478 hitter in parts of four seasons of Triple-A ball but has experience at both first base and third base.

NL East Notes: Braves, Lowrie, Nunez, Martini

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It doesn’t sound as though the Braves’ decision on an everyday third baseman will come until the final days of camp. Austin Riley and Johan Camargo are vying for that spot, but manager Brian Snitker told reporters today that both players have impressed so far and he’ll “wait until the last couple of days” before making up his mind (Twitter thread via David O’Brien of The Athletic). Snitker has previously suggested that whichever player doesn’t get the Opening Day nod could head to Triple-A Gwinnett for everyday at-bats, as both have minor league options remaining. The skipper again implied as much today: “[A]ll things being equal, one guy’s not going to be real happy with the decision.”

Camargo is hitting .308/.333/.500 through 10 games thus far, while Riley is hitting .320/.346/.600 in the same sample. Obviously, we’re talking about a minuscule number of plate appearances (26), and the Braves’ decision will be based on more than the pair’s surface-level production at the plate.

A bit more from the National League East…

  • There’s still no clarity regarding the knee injury that’s limiting Mets infielder Jed Lowrie, writes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. The 35-year-old is still wearing a sizable brace on his ailing leg, and neither he nor the organization have been forthcoming about the exact nature of his knee troubles. There’s still no timetable for Lowrie, who tallied just eight plate appearances with the Mets during the first season of a two-year, $20MM deal in 2019. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that with Lowrie unable to participate in Grapefruit League games, fellow veteran Eduardo Nunez has impressed the Mets in camp — perhaps positioning himself to snag a utility role. Nunez is playing on a minor league pact and would need to be added to the 40-man roster. He’s hitting .321/.387/.464 with a pair of doubles and a triple through 31 plate appearances so far in Spring Training and has experience at second base, shortstop and third base in addition to some more limited work in left field.
  • Outfielder Nick Martini was outrighted off the Phillies’ 40-man roster last month, but the news that Andrew McCutchen will open the season on the injured list once again has him in contention for an Opening Day roster spot. Standing in his way are former Phillies top prospect Nick Williams and fellow offseason acquisition Kyle Garlick — both of whom are on the 40-man roster. Nevertheless, Meghan Montemurro of The Athletic writes that Martini has impressed manager Joe Girardi, who praised the “professional” manner in which Martini “grinds out” all of his at-bats. Martini does indeed have some of that “professional hitter” feel to him — at least based on his career numbers in Triple-A, where he’s slashed .305/.401/.435 with a hearty 13.5 percent walk rate against a 16.9 percent strikeout rate in more than 1400 plate appearances. Both Garlick and Williams have minor league options remaining, but the Phils would need to make a 40-man move to bring Martini north when camp breaks.

Phillies Outright Nick Martini

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The Phillies have outrighted outfielder Nick Martini after he cleared waivers, according to a team announcement. He’s going to stay in camp as a non-roster player.

Martini, 29, was recently dropped from the menu in favor of new addition Kyle Garlick. They’ll end up competing to join the same outfield mix, though the former is a left-handed hitter and the latter swings from the right side.

This worked out well for the Phils, as they’ll get to keep the depth on hand for the rest of camp. Martini had a nice 2018 showing in the majors but drooped in the next campaign. He owns a .401 career OBP through nearly fifteen hundred career plate appearances at Triple-A.

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