Giants To Use Caleb Kilian As Closer
The Giants have named Caleb Kilian their closer, manager Tony Vitello told reporters before tonight’s game against the Cubs (link via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). They had used a committee approach but is moving to stricter roles in what has become a problematic bullpen.
San Francisco inexplicably made almost no moves of consequence to improve the bullpen over the winter. They had one of the better relief groups in MLB for the first half of the 2025 season. They traded Camilo Doval and impending free agent Tyler Rogers at the deadline. That opened the ninth inning for Randy Rodríguez, then amidst a breakout All-Star season. He blew out in September and required Tommy John surgery, making the bullpen a clear area of need going into the offseason.
They nevertheless eschewed all but the reclamation portion of the bullpen market. They claimed Reiver Sanmartin off waivers and added injury rehabbers Jason Foley, Rowan Wick and Sam Hentges for a few million dollars. Kilian was among a handful of arms brought in on minor league deals.
The bullpen was surprisingly effective early on, carrying the second-lowest ERA in the big leagues through the end of April. Things have gone off the rails since then, as only the Reds and Rockies have a higher bullpen ERA than San Francisco’s 5.35 mark since the beginning of May.
Kilian has generally been among their most effective back-end arms. He only allowed one earned run in his first 14 appearances. Kilian struggled in May, punctuated by a five-run blowup at Coors Field to close the month, but has tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings over six appearances to start June.
The 29-year-old was a Giants draftee whom they traded to the Cubs in the Kris Bryant deal. Kilian was hit hard in limited MLB action between 2022-24 and spent most of last year on the minor league injured list. He has already easily established a career high with 29 2/3 MLB frames this season, posting a 3.34 ERA and 26% strikeout rate. Kilian’s average fastball has climbed to 96.7 mph after sitting 93-94 during his stint with the Cubs. He’s missing more bats as a result but issuing a lot of free passes as well.
Kilian has already picked up his first four saves this year. They’ve been scattered over the past month. It now seems they’ll try to zero in on him for the ninth inning while using other leverage arms like Keaton Winn and Erik Miller earlier in games. Ryan Walker, who logged three saves in April, was recalled this afternoon after spending five weeks in the minors. He’ll pitch more in the middle innings but said his goal is to work his way back to the ninth. Walker was lights out in 2024 but had an up-and-down ’25 season and allowed 12 runs in his first 15 1/3 innings this year.
Giants Select Caleb Kilian
The Giants announced their Opening Day roster moves today. Outfielder Jared Oliva and right-hander Caleb Kilian were selected to the 40-man. In corresponding moves, left-hander Reiver Sanmartin was placed on the 60-day injured list and outfielder Luis Matos has been designated for assignment. It had been reported yesterday that the Giants were likely to select Oliva and designate Matos. The Giants also announced that catcher Eric Haase has been released from his minor league deal and that Rule 5 catcher Daniel Susac has made the team.
Kilian, 29 in June, was signed to a minor league deal in the offseason. He had an impressive camp, tossing 9 1/3 innings while only allowing one earned run. He racked up 11 strikeouts while only issuing two walks.
That strong performance will allow him to make the roster of his original organization. Kilian was drafted by the Giants in 2019 but was flipped to the Cubs as part of the Kris Bryant trade in 2021. He only got to make eight appearances for the Cubs from 2022 to 2024. He was injured for most of 2025 and only made 11 minor league appearances.
Now that he appears to be healthy and pitching well, he’ll make it back to the big leagues. He is out of options and will have to be kept on the active roster or else removed from the 40-man entirely. He has less than a year of service time, so he can be retained for the long term if this season goes especially well.
The San Francisco bullpen has opportunities available because they traded Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval last year and then lost Randy Rodríguez to Tommy John surgery. Their moves to replace those losses were mostly injury reclamation projects, such as Kilian himself.
Sanmartin’s transfer is not a surprise. A waiver claimee from November, it was reported a few weeks ago that he had suffered a significant hip flexor strain that was going to keep him out of action for at least three months.
Behind the plate, the Giants have Patrick Bailey but the backup job was up for grabs. In December’s Rule 5 draft, the Giants got Susac via a trade. The Twins technically selected him from the Athletics fourth overall in that draft but then immediately flipped him to the Giants for minor league catcher Miguel Caraballo.
The fact that the Giants actually gave up a player in order to jump the Rule 5 queue suggested they felt good about Susac’s chances of being an impact guy for them. He helped his own cause by putting up a .350/.386/.550 line in spring training. That was helped by an unsustainable .400 batting average on balls in play but it was enough to get him the job regardless.
As a Rule 5 guy, he can’t be optioned to the minors and will have to stay on the active roster all year long for the Giants to fully acquire his rights. If they want to cut him at any point this year, he could be traded or put on waivers. Any claiming team would take on the same Rule 5 restrictions. If he were to clear waivers, he would have to be offered back to the A’s.
Susac getting the job squeezes out Haase, who had signed a minor league deal in January. He had a huge spring, slashing .286/.375/.536, but also struck out in 14 of his 32 plate appearances. That’s fairly reflective of his big league career, as he has 48 home runs in 1,224 plate appearances but has been punched out at a 30.7% clip. He’ll head out to the open market to see what opportunities are available this week as all clubs shuffle their rosters.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Giants Sign Buddy Kennedy, Caleb Kilian To Minors Contracts
The Giants signed infielder Buddy Kennedy and right-hander Caleb Kilian to minor league contracts last month, as per San Francisco’s official transactions page. The two players each elected minor league free agency following the season.
Kennedy appeared in 13 big league games in 2025, split between the Phillies (four games), Blue Jays (two games), and Dodgers (seven games). Because Kennedy is out of minor league options, he had to be designated for assignment rather than being simply sent down to Triple-A, resulting in a string of DFAs, outrights, a waiver claim, and two separate stints in Toronto’s organization. Despite his brief time with both the Dodgers and Blue Jays, Kennedy was assured of a World Series ring no matter who won the Fall Classic, bringing a nice bonus to the end of his fourth MLB season.
Beginning his pro career in the Diamondbacks organization, Kennedy has hit .178/.271/.274 over 181 big league plate appearances over 67 games with five different teams. His minor league numbers are markedly better (.281/.388/.429 with 33 homers over 1704 career Triple-A PA) but Kennedy’s calling card is his defensive versatility. Kennedy has a lot of experience at first, second, and third base, plus some work as a shortstop and left fielder.
Playing time figures to be scarce on a Giants’ infield that has a set starter at every position except second base, and even the keystone could be filled with a prominent name given the rumors linking San Francisco to Ketel Marte and Brendan Donovan. Casey Schmitt would move into a backup infield role in that scenario, and Christian Koss, Tyler Fitzgerald, and Osleivis Basabe are all ahead of Kennedy on the depth chart. Kennedy’s out-of-option status won’t help his chances of breaking camp, but he could stick at the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate as a depth option.
Kilian began his pro career as an eighth-round pick for the Giants in the 2019 draft, and the righty was one of the two prospects San Francisco dealt to the Cubs for Kris Bryant at the 2021 trade deadline. Kilian started five of eight games for Chicago scattered across the 2022-24 seasons, and he has a 9.22 ERA and almost as many walks (six) as strikeouts (seven) over his 27 1/3 career Major League innings.
A teres major strain also kept Kilian on the injured list for over half of the 2024 season, and an undisclosed injury while in Triple-A limited the righty to 15 2/3 minor league innings in 2025 and no time on Chicago’s active roster. Pitching mostly out of the bullpen for the first time in his career, Kilian struggled to a 7.47 ERA in 2025, though his health issues likely impacted that shaky performance.
Though there has been plenty of turnover within San Francisco’s organization since the last time Kilian was there, the 28-year-old could benefit from a familiar environment and some fresh voices to help him get his career on track. Staying on the field after two injury-marred seasons is the first priority, and the Giants’ pitching development team can then determine if Kilian still has a future as a starter or if a relief role is a better fit.
Players Entering Minor League Free Agency
Major League free agents became eligible to sign with other teams on Thursday, but the minor league free agent market has technically been open since season’s end. MLBTR has published several posts detailing players who had already elected to become minor free agents, but Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (multiple links) has the full account of all the minor league free agents that officially joined their big league counterparts on the open market on Thursday.
This list details only players who have played in the Major Leagues, and whose minor league free agency hasn’t already been covered on MLBTR in the last month.
Athletics: Aaron Brooks, Carlos Duran, CD Pelham, Bryan Lavastida, Nick Martini, Alejo Lopez
Braves: Ian Anderson, Davis Daniel, Enoli Paredes, Amos Willingham, Brian Moran, Jonathan Ornelas, Chandler Seagle, Matthew Batten, Conner Capel
Orioles: Jakson Reetz, Livan Soto, Thaddeus Ward
Red Sox: John Brebbia, Isaiah Campbell, Mark Kolozsvary, Chadwick Tromp, Seby Zavala, Trayce Thompson
Cubs: Yency Almonte, Zach Pop, Caleb Kilian, Austin Gomber, Forrest Wall, Billy Hamilton, Joe Ross, Tommy Romero, Antonio Santos, Tom Cosgrove, Dixon Machado, Nicky Lopez, Carlos Perez
White Sox: Elvis Peguero, Kyle Tyler, Vinny Capra, Chris Rodriguez, Caleb Freeman, Joe Perez, Owen White, Andre Lipcius
Reds: Tejay Antone, Alan Busenitz, Buck Farmer, Josh Staumont, P.J. Higgins, Eric Yang, Levi Jordan, Edwin Rios, Davis Wendzel, Evan Kravetz, Adam Plutko, Charlie Barnes, Alex Young
Guardians: Riley Pint, Tyler Naquin, Parker Mushinski
Rockies: Xzavion Curry, Sean Bouchard, Owen Miller, Karl Kauffmann,
Tigers: Kevin Newman, Brian Serven, Jordan Balazovic, Nick Margevicius, Blair Calvo
Astros: Jon Singleton, Joe Hudson, Kenedy Corona, Greg Jones, Matt Bowman, Luis Contreras, Tyler Ivey, John Rooney
Royals: John Gant, Spencer Turnbull, Bobby Dalbec, Diego Castillo, Geoff Hartlieb, Jordan Groshans, Nick Pratto, Isan Diaz, Stephen Nogosek, Nick Robertson, Joey Krehbiel, Noah Murdock, Ryan Hendrix
Angels: Shaun Anderson, Brandon Drury, Yolmer Sanchez, Ben Gamel, Evan White, Cavan Biggio, Logan Davidson, Travis Blankenhorn, Oscar Colas, Kelvin Caceres, Dakota Hudson, Chad Stevens, Angel Felipe, Jordan Holloway, Victor Gonzalez
Dodgers: Michael Grove, Luken Baker, Giovanny Gallegos, Kyle Funkhouser, Chris Okey, CJ Alexander, Zach Penrod
Marlins: Jack Winkler, Lane Ramsey
Brewers: Luis Urias, Oliver Dunn, Julian Merryweather, Daz Cameron, Drew Avans, Josh Maciejewski, Jared Oliva
Twins: Jose Miranda, Anthony Misiewicz, Jonah Bride, Thomas Hatch, Daniel Duarte, Connor Gillispie
Mets: Joey Meneses, Jose Azocar, Joe La Sorsa, Gilberto Celestino, Ty Adcock, Bryce Montes de Oca, Yacksel Rios, Oliver Ortega, Luis De Los Santos
Yankees: Kenta Maeda, Jeimer Candelario, Rob Brantly, Andrew Velazquez, Jose Rojas, Joel Kuhnel, Wilking Rodriguez
Phillies: Matt Manning, Adonis Medina, Lucas Sims, Jacob Waguespack, Phil Bickford, Rodolfo Castro, Oscar Mercado, Brewer Hicklen, Christian Arroyo, Payton Henry
Pirates: Brett Sullivan, Nick Solak, Nelson Velazquez, Beau Burrows, Ryder Ryan
Cardinals: Zach Plesac, Anthony Veneziano, Tyler Matzek, Zack Weiss, Drew Rom, Aaron Wilkerson
Padres: Eguy Rosario, Tim Locastro, Reiss Knehr, Nate Mondou
Giants: Sean Hjelle, Miguel Diaz, Max Stassi, Sam Huff, Cole Waites, Drew Ellis, Ethan Small
Mariners: Michael Fulmer, Casey Lawrence, Collin Snider, Jesse Hahn, Nick Anderson, Josh Fleming, Austin Shenton, Jacob Nottingham, Beau Taylor, Cade Marlowe, Jack Lopez, Michael Mariot, Hagen Danner
Rays: Cooper Hummel, Jonathan Hernandez, Jamie Westbrook, Tres Barrera
Rangers: Omar Narvaez, Cal Quantrill, Ty Blach, Alan Trejo, Joe Barlow, Cory Abbott, Michael Plassmeyer, Alex De Goti
Blue Jays: Eloy Jimenez, Buddy Kennedy, Joe Mantiply, Elieser Hernandez, Rene Pinto, Adam Kloffenstein
Nationals: Francisco Mejia, Juan Yepez, Joan Adon, CJ Stubbs, Parker Dunshee, Erick Mejia, Adrian Sampson, Delino DeShields
Cubs Re-Sign Caleb Kilian To Minor League Deal
The Cubs re-signed righty Caleb Kilian to a minor league contract, reports Tommy Birch of The Des Moines Register. He’ll return to Triple-A Iowa after being released over the weekend.
Chicago designated Kilian for assignment last Thursday when they acquired Tom Cosgrove in a trade with San Diego. Kilian was on the minor league injured list at the time. Teams cannot place injured players on outright waivers. The Cubs needed to trade Kilian or release him after the DFA. The vast majority of such players will be released. Once they clear waivers, they’re free to talk to all 30 clubs, though it’s common for their former team to try to get them back on a minor league deal.
That’s what happened in this case, so Kilian sticks with the Cubs after a few days on the open market. He’s been in the organization since the 2021 deadline. The Cubs acquired Kilian and outfielder Alexander Canario from the Giants in the Kris Bryant deal. Both players were reasonably well-regarded prospects at the time, though neither has panned out thus far. Canario’s big power has been undercut by huge strikeout tallies. The Cubs moved on from him over the offseason.
Kilian has made eight major league appearances over three seasons. The Texas Tech product has allowed a 9.22 earned run average in 27 1/3 big league innings. He has walked 20 batters with 21 strikeouts. Over parts of four seasons in Triple-A, he carries a 4.37 ERA in 274 frames. His 21.8% strikeout rate is a little worse than average, as is his 9.2% walk percentage. Kilian had only taken the ball once for Iowa this year. He gave up six runs in 2 1/3 innings before leaving with the undisclosed injury that sent him to the IL. He’ll work as non-roster rotation or long relief depth once he’s healthy enough to return to the mound.
Cubs Release Caleb Kilian
The Cubs have released right-hander Caleb Kilian, according to the transactions log on his MLB.com profile page. The righty was designated for assignment by the Cubs last week and presumably passed through waivers unclaimed in the days since his DFA. The Cubs could have outrighted the right-hander to the minor leagues, but evidently did not choose to do so. He’ll now be eligible to sign with any of the league’s 30 clubs without the club needing to carry him on their 40-man roster.
Kilian, 28 in June, got his start in pro ball as an eighth-round pick by the Giants back in 2019. He made just seven appearances in the minors that year, with 16 scoreless innings between rookie ball and Low-A. That impressive start to Kilian’s pro career was put on hold due to 2020’s canceled minor league season, and when he got off to a hot start with the Giants between the High-A and Double-A levels in 2020, Kilian found himself swapped to the Cubs alongside outfielder Alexander Canario at the 2021 trade deadline in the deal that made Kris Bryant a Giant.
That trade kicked off Kilian’s Cubs career, and he made four starts for the club’s Double-A affiliate down the stretch to finish the year with a 2.42 ERA and a 29.2% strikeout rate in 100 1/3 innings across two levels of the minors. Those were solid numbers for the year and put Kilian on the radar for a big league call-up at some point in 2022. He started the year at Triple-A but got his chance with the Cubs in June of that year. His first outing in the majors was a solid run, as he allowed three runs across five innings of work while striking out six and walking two. Things came apart from there, however, and Kilian struggled to a 14.21 ERA with ten walks in just 6 1/3 innings of work against three strikeouts.
That pair of disastrous outings ended Kilian’s first foray into the majors, and his newfound control struggles seemingly followed him back to the minors. After posting a 2.06 ERA with a 9.1% walk rate and a 24.8% strikeout rate in nine Triple-A starts prior to his call-up, Kilian struggled to a 5.37 ERA with a 14.6% walk rate the rest of the way after being optioned back down to the minor leagues. He managed to rein in his wildness in 2023, but that came at the expense of punchouts; Kilian struggled to a 4.56 ERA in 25 Triple-A outings that year despite walking just 7% of his opponents thanks to a lackluster 18.6% strikeout rate.
Last season, Kilian appeared to be in the conversation for a big league job with the Cubs during Spring Training before being sidelined by a teres major strain for several months. When healthy enough to pitch again, Kilian posted a 3.22 ERA in 44 2/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level. That was a marked improvement, but his 20.3% strikeout rate was still lackluster. He continued to struggle at the big league level in brief call-ups to the majors as well, with a 4.22 ERA and 5.98 FIP in 10 2/3 innings of work that brought his career ERA in the majors down to 9.22.
Coming into 2025, Kilian had an odd Spring Training where he struck out 32.3% of his opponents in six innings of work, but also surrendered 12 hits and wound up with a 7.50 ERA. His first start at the Triple-A level was nothing short of disastrous this year, as he surrendered six runs over 2 1/3 innings of work. That wound up being his only outing with the Cubs this year before they decided to pull the plug and designate him for assignment. Now that he’s cleared waivers and been granted his release, the right-hander will have the opportunity to sign with any of the league’s 30 clubs and try to get his career back on track, though it’s also possible he could look to reinvent himself in independent ball or overseas as well.
Cubs Acquire Tom Cosgrove From Padres
The Padres announced that they’ve dealt reliever Tom Cosgrove to the Cubs for cash considerations. Chicago designated righty Caleb Kilian for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot. San Diego had designated Cosgrove for assignment over the weekend.
Cosgrove, 28, was drafted by the Padres in 2017. San Diego added him to the 40-man roster during the 2022-23 offseason, a testament to the bat-missing ability he’d shown in the minors. Cosgrove made his major league debut the following April and managed strong numbers as a rookie. He turned in a 1.75 earned run average through 51 1/3 innings. His strikeout and walk profile was pedestrian, but he very rarely allowed hard contact and pitched well against lefty and righty batters alike.
The pendulum swung dramatically in the other direction last year. Cosgrove gave up 19 runs in 14 2/3 MLB innings spanning 18 appearances. Opponents’ average exit velocity jumped by three ticks while his strikeout rate dropped from 21.5% to 19.7%. Cosgrove spent most of the season in Triple-A, where he posted a 4.85 ERA with an above-average 26.8% strikeout percentage in 32 appearances.
Cosgrove did not break camp after a rough Spring Training, in which he gave up seven runs through 5 1/3 frames. He has gotten out to a slow start in Triple-A as well, allowing three runs with four walks and two strikeouts in four appearances. The Cubs immediately optioned him. He’ll begin his Chicago tenure with their top affiliate in Iowa. This is his final minor league option year.
Kilian is in his last option season as well. The Texas Tech product was a decent prospect in the San Francisco farm system whom the Cubs acquired in the Kris Bryant deadline deal in 2021. Chicago also acquired outfield prospect Alexander Canario, whom they DFA and traded away a couple months ago. It’s possible they’ll lose Kilian via trade or waivers within the next week.
The 27-year-old righty never established himself on Chicago’s staff. He has made five starts and three relief appearances going back to 2022. Kilian owns a 9.22 ERA in 27 1/3 innings thus far. He has issued 20 walks while recording only 21 strikeouts. Kilian has better numbers over four seasons at the Triple-A level. He carries a 4.37 ERA with a slightly below-average 21.8% strikeout rate across 274 innings at the top minor league level. Most of that has come as a starter. Kilian has only started one Triple-A game so far this season. He was tagged for six runs on a trio of homers in 2 1/3 innings.
Cubs Granted Fourth Option Year On Caleb Kilian
The Cubs have been granted a fourth option year for right-hander Caleb Kilian, per a report from Jordan Bastian of MLB.com.
Typically, players have three option seasons with one used each season during which the player spends at least 20 days on optional assignment in the minor leagues. A player is considered to be on optional assignment when on a club’s 40-man roster but sent to the minor leagues while not on a rehab assignment. Kilian, 28 in June, was first placed on Chicago’s 40-man roster back in 2022 and has been optioned to the minor leagues in each of the 2022-24 campaigns with at least 20 days in the minors each season. Under normal circumstances, that would leave him out of options headed into the 2025 campaign, meaning the Cubs would have to expose Kilian to waivers before attempting to return him to the minor leagues.
Occasionally, however, teams are granted a fourth option year on certain players, typically due to the player missing significant time with injury. MLB.com explains that players with less than five full professional seasons (defined as at least 90 days on a major or minor league active roster) are eligible for a fourth option year. That applies to Kilian, who missed the majority of the 2024 season due to a teres major strain suffered during Spring Training and did not make his season debut until July 2. Kilian also did not pitch in 2020 due to the canceled minor league season and pitched for just one month in 2019 after being drafted by the Giants in June of that year. That leaves Kilian with just three full professional seasons under his belt: 2021, 2022, and 2023.
The news affords the Cubs additional flexibility as they sort through their many bullpen options for the 2025 season. Presently, the club has Porter Hodge, Tyson Miller, Julian Merryweather, Caleb Thielbar, Eli Morgan, Luke Little, Nate Pearson, Keegan Thompson, Rob Zastryzny, Jack Neely, Daniel Palencia, Ethan Roberts, and Gavin Hollowell all on the 40-man roster and in the mix for a role in the Opening Day bullpen before even considering starting pitchers like Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks, Cody Poteet and now Kilian that currently project as part of the Triple-A rotation. A handful of non-roster veterans like Phil Bickford and Brooks Kriske could also be in the mix for a job.
Of that massive group of potential bullpen arms, Thielbar, Miller, Merryweather, Zastryzny, Thompson, and Festa all do not have options remaining. With just eight spots in the Opening Day bullpen, Kilian also being out of options would’ve left just one open space to fill before the club would’ve had to start exposing players from the aforementioned to waivers in order to mix in the club’s many optionable relief arms, including key players like Hodge, Pearson, and Morgan. Injuries and Spring Training roster cuts will surely thin that group out in the months leading up to Opening Day, but the news regarding Kilian’s fourth option year offers the Cubs a bit more breathing room as they look to piece together their pitching corps for 2025.
An inability to option Kilian also would have likely ended whatever hopes the right-hander may have of continuing to be a potential option for the starting rotation; while Kilian has a deep pitch mix and the stamina to start, his control has been sorely lacking. The right-hander has accrued 27 1/3 innings of work in the majors to this point in his career and in that time has struggled to a 9.22 ERA and 5.32 FIP while walking (14.6%) nearly as many batters as he’s struck out (15.3%). With that said, he was effective at the Triple-A level when healthy enough to take the mound last year, with a 3.22 ERA and a 20.3% strikeout rate against a 7.5% walk rate.
Whether he ultimately finds a home in the rotation or the bullpen, a fourth option year has left the door open to Kilian establishing himself more firmly as a viable big league option with additional time to develop in the minors, and allows the Cubs one final year to evaluate the righty before he either has to be kept on the active roster permanently or exposed to waivers during the 2026 campaign.
Cubs Reinstate, Option Caleb Kilian
The Cubs reinstated right-hander Caleb Kilian from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Iowa. The club had a couple of 40-man roster vacancies after their recent deadline dealings, so their count goes from 38 to 39 with this move. Additionally, catcher Tomás Nido had surgery on his right meniscus and will be out for four to six weeks. Both pieces of news were relayed on X by Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune.
Kilian, 27, was diagnosed with a teres major strain during Spring Training and was slated to miss several months. He landed on the 60-day injured list on Opening Day and has been there until today. He began a rehab assignment at the start of July and has made eight minor league appearances in recent weeks. Rehab assignments for pitchers come with a 30-day maximum, so Kilian was reaching the end of that window.
He’ll now provide the Chicago pitching staff with some depth. He has a 12.42 earned run average in his big league career, but in a small sample of 16 2/3 innings. He pitched 227 Triple-A innings over the previous two seasons with a 4.40 ERA, 22.2% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate.
He came into 2024 with 20 days of majors league service time and added roughly four months’ worth here on the IL, but is still shy of the 172 needed to get to a full year. He also came into 2024 with just one option season remaining and is now likely to be out of options next year. A player needs to spend at least 20 days on optional assignment in a season for that to count as one of his option years, so Kilian will use his final one here in 2024 if he’s not recalled again in the next 20 days.
Nido landed on the 10-day IL last week due to a right knee sprain. It appears it was determined that he needed to go under the knife to get the issue taken care of. The Cubs selected Christian Bethancourt to take Nido’s roster spot and share the catching duties with Miguel Amaya. Given Nido’s timeline, he could be back in the mix in September.
Those are the only three backstops on the 40-man roster at the moment, so the Cubs will have only non-roster depth if someone else gets hurt while Nido is out. Moisés Ballesteros might be next in line, despite his lack of major league experience, as he’s considered one of the top 100 prospects in the league and is currently in Triple-A.
Caleb Kilian To Miss Several Months Due To Teres Major Strain
Cubs manager Craig Counsell provided members of the media, including Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times, updates on some injured players. Right-hander Caleb Kilian has a teres major strain and will be out for a while, probably not back in game action until around the All-Star break. Infielder Nick Madrigal has a mild right hamstring strain, with his prognosis a bit less clear at the moment. “We’re going to progress him over the next week, and then we’ll have a good idea where we’re at,” Counsell said of Madrigal.
Kilian, 27 in June, came over to the Cubs in the 2021 deadline deal that sent Kris Bryant to the Giants. He was added to the Cubs’ 40-man roster in June of 2022 but has spent most of his time since then on optional assignment. He’s only tossed 16 2/3 major league innings so far, having allowed 23 earned runs in that time.
His results in the minors have naturally been better. He has thrown 231 innings at the Triple-A level over the past two years, with an earned run average of 4.36. He struck out 22.1% of batters faced in that time, gave out walks at a 9.5% clip and got grounders on roughly half the balls in play he allowed.
The righty would have been in competition for the final spot in the Cubs’ rotation. Four starting jobs are accounted for between Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Kyle Hendricks and Jameson Taillon, with the final spot up for grabs between guys like Jordan Wicks, Hayden Wesneski, Javier Assad, Ben Brown and Porter Hodge.
Kilian would have been in that battle and, even if he didn’t win the gig, he would have been in Triple-A looking to earn the first call-up when a need arose. But he was experiencing some discomfort and underwent an MRI yesterday, which revealed the bad news. He’ll now be out of action for the next few months and won’t be available to the club until the second half of the season, most likely.
As for Madrigal, he also came into camp fighting for a job. The Cubs have a fairly open competition for time at third base, with Madrigal in the mix alongside Patrick Wisdom and Christopher Morel, as well as a few others. Madrigal’s current injury doesn’t appear to be severe, but if it lingers into the start of the season, it could open up more playing time for Wisdom or Morel until Madrigal is back to full strength.
Madrigal is a hit-over-power guy who has just four home runs in his 846 major league plate appearances. His 4.6% walk rate is also very low but his tiny 8.9% strikeout rate demonstrates he is one of the toughest hitters in the league to punch out. His career batting line of .280/.328/.354 translates to a wRC+ of 90, indicating he’s been about 10% below league average overall. Last year was his first season playing third base at the big league level, moving from his customary second base spot, but he seems to have made the move swimmingly. He was worth eight Defensive Runs Saved and 10 Outs Above Average in just 560 1/3 innings at the hot corner.
Wisdom and Morel have the opposite profile, as both of them are high-power, high-strikeout bats with questionable defense. The club doesn’t have a true designated hitter, so perhaps they could have used Madrigal at third while deploying one of Morel or Wisdom as the DH, but that won’t be an option if Madrigal misses some time.