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Nick Madrigal

Caleb Kilian To Miss Several Months Due To Teres Major Strain

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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.

The Cubs’ Third Base Possibilities

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Few teams have been linked more prominently to Matt Chapman this offseason than the Cubs. Chicago’s recent move to re-sign Cody Bellinger on an $80MM guarantee makes that decidedly less likely. Chapman remains on the open market but the Bellinger deal pushed the Cubs to the edge of the luxury tax threshold.

There aren’t many other external options. Maybe there’s a trickle-down effect once Chapman does sign — the Giants may be the favorite for his services and could market J.D. Davis if they landed him — but the Cubs seem likelier to stick with their in-house candidates. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer suggested at the Bellinger press conference that Chicago feels good about the roster as it stands, although he said the front office would consider opportunities that might present themselves.

Let’s run through the current options to take the hot corner:

While Madrigal doesn’t look the part of a third baseman, he narrowly led the team in playing time there last season. Previously a career-long second baseman, Madrigal handled himself well defensively. Statcast credited him with 10 runs above average in only 560 1/3 innings. The range he’d shown in the middle infield remained on display. Before he moved across the diamond, there was concern about his arm strength. That wasn’t much of an issue. Madrigal doesn’t have a great arm, but it’s not poor enough to prevent him from making most plays.

The bigger question is whether he hits enough to profile as a regular anywhere on the diamond. Madrigal’s very slight frame leads to minimal power projection. He has preternatural bat-to-ball skills but needs to hit a lot of singles to compensate for the lack of power and very low walk rates. Last season’s .263/.311/.352 batting line in 294 plate appearances more closely resembled utility production.

Wisdom has the polar opposite profile from Madrigal. He has massive raw power and has topped 20 homers in three straight seasons. He connected on 23 longballs in only 302 plate appearances a year ago. While Madrigal has perhaps the best pure contact ability of anyone in the majors, Wisdom swings and misses as much as any regular. He fanned in nearly 37% of his plate appearances last season, a rate he has matched over three-plus years in Chicago.

The end result was a .205/.289/.500 slash. Chicago valued his power production enough to keep him around on a $2.725MM arbitration contract. That’s not an exorbitant cost for a right-handed bench bat, a role that probably suits Wisdom better than playing regularly at third base. He has an above-average arm but limited range, leading to subpar defensive grades in each of the last two years.

Morel, 24, might have the best physical tools for the job. He has big power, blasting 26 homers in 107 games a year ago. Morel has hit 42 longballs over his first 854 MLB plate appearances. That comes with a lot of strikeouts, albeit not quite at Wisdom levels. He punched out 31% of the time last season, hitting .247/.313/.508 in 429 trips.

Even with a lot of whiffs, Morel is a valuable hitter. He has had a much harder time on the other side of the ball. Despite being a good athlete with top-of-the-scale arm strength, Morel has rated poorly in the outfield and in a very limited sample of third base work. Hoyer suggested early in the offseason the Cubs felt he’s best suited at second base, but Nico Hoerner has that position secure in Chicago.

That makes third base the logical choice. Manager Craig Counsell told reporters that they’ll play Morel primarily at the hot corner this spring (link via Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune). It’d be a major boost for the Cubs if he’s capable of handling the position. If he doesn’t show the necessary hands or instincts to play there regularly, they’d be left looking for ways to shoehorn his bat into the lineup.

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The job is likely to fall to someone from that trio early on, with Madrigal and Morel standing as the likeliest options. Miles Mastrobuoni picked up 24 starts there last season. He remains on the 40-man roster but projects for a depth role after hitting .241/.308/.301 through 145 plate appearances.

Trade acquisition Michael Busch logged a bit of third base action as the Dodgers experimented with ways to get him into the lineup. He’s not a particularly good defender anywhere, the biggest reason he never forced his way into everyday reps in Los Angeles. The Cubs are planning to give him more regular run at first base, although he could theoretically move across the diamond from time to time if Chicago moved Bellinger to first base to plug Pete Crow-Armstrong into center field.

The Cubs entered the 2023 season with a similar group as they have now. They addressed the position at the deadline with the Jeimer Candelario trade. That could be the path again — Davis and Brandon Drury are among the players who could move this summer — but there’s also a chance that last year’s first-round pick forces his way to Wrigley Field midseason.

Matt Shaw is already viewed as one of the sport’s most promising minor league hitters. The Maryland product shredded pro pitching at a .357/.400/.618 clip after the draft. He only has 15 games of Double-A experience, so he won’t be an option on Opening Day. As an advanced college bat, he could get to the big leagues by the end of his first full professional season. Shaw was a middle infielder with the Terps, but third base is the clearest path to an MLB debut in 2024.

Chicago Notes: White Sox, Cubs, McCarthy, Junis

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The White Sox acquired outfielder Dominic Fletcher in a trade with the Diamondbacks last week, though the deal may have been something of an either-or proposition.  According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Sox had the option of picking either Fletcher or Jake McCarthy in the deal, with pitching prospect Cristian Mena still headed back to the D’Backs as the return piece in the one-for-one trade.

Fletcher and McCarthy share a similar profile as 26-year-old, left-handed hitting outfielders who can play any of the three positions on the grass.  McCarthy was the 39th overall pick of the 2018 draft and has more Major League experience, with a .261/.331/.380 slash line over 736 plate appearances in the Show.  A fourth-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 seemed to hint at McCarthy’s potential as a building block for the Snakes, yet a tough 2023 season saw him relegated to the minors and then to the Diamondbacks’ bench as the year developed.  Arizona’s willingness to move on from either player and the Southsiders’ decision to take Fletcher provides some interesting wrinkles to this trade, and it might be interesting to revisit this deal in a few years’ time once we see how the careers of Fletcher, McCarthy, and Mena have developed.

Here’s more from the Windy City’s two teams…

  • Though the top four in the Cubs rotation seems set and several candidates are vying for the fifth starter’s job, Jakob Junis “recently” drew some interest from Wrigleyville, as per The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma.  The depth of the interest isn’t known, though it might’ve been something of a due diligence move by the Cubs since no formal offer was made.  Junis’ experience as a swingman means that he wouldn’t have necessarily even been in the rotation, so the Cubs could’ve been looking at Junis to bolster the bullpen and also add even more depth to the starting mix.  In any case, Junis is no longer an option, as the right-hander signed a one-year, $7MM contract with the Brewers last week.
  • In another piece from Mooney and Sharma, they look at the Cubs’ unsettled third base situation.  Patrick Wisdom and Nick Madrigal seem poised to get the bulk of playing time, with Christopher Morel getting the occasional start at the hot corner, and Miles Mastrobuoni or rookie Luis Vazquez providing further depth.  There’s enough uncertainty here that Mooney/Sharma feel the Cubs might again make a trade deadline move at the position, akin to their deal for Jeimer Candelario this past summer.  Of course, the Cubs have also been linked to Matt Chapman this winter if the team still had a bigger-ticket free agent upgrade in mind, though a longer-term answer might block top prospect Matt Shaw, who has been working out as a third baseman this offseason.
  • Reports surfaced last month that the White Sox were speaking with development company Related Midwest about the potential of building a new ballpark on a portion of land in Chicago’s South Loop area.  Related Midwest recently released a series of artist renderings to media (including MLB.com’s Scott Merkin) about what this new stadium and the associated “ballpark village” area might look like alongside the Chicago River, as well as some proposed renderings of how the area around Guaranteed Rate Field could be developed if the Sox moved to a new site.  Obviously a lot of hurdles still have to be crossed with the White Sox, developers, civic and state officials, and many other parties before this proposed ballpark could become a reality, and the earliest possible opening date would seem to be 2030, since the team’s lease at Guaranteed Rate Field runs through the 2029 season.

Michael Fulmer Expected To Miss 2024 After Undergoing Elbow Surgery

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Right-hander Michael Fulmer underwent UCL revision surgery on his right elbow on Wednesday, the Cubs revealed to reporters (including Patrick Mooney of The Athletic). He is expected to miss the entire 2024 season.

It’s yet another frustrating hurdle for Fulmer, 30, who has a few of them in his career. He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 2016 after posting an earned run average of 3.06 in 26 starts for the Tigers that year. His performance dipped a bit over the next two years and then he required Tommy John surgery in 2019, wiping out that entire season.

He returned to the mound in 2020 but registered an ERA of 8.78 in 10 starts that year, prompting a move to the bullpen. That proved to be a great pivot for him, as he finished 2021 with an ERA of 2.97 and then had a solid mark of 3.39 in 2022, the latter season including a deadline trade to the Twins.

He qualified for free agency and was able to land a one-year, $4MM deal with the Cubs for the 2023 season. Unfortunately, it was a bumpy season for Fulmer, due to both inconsistency and injury. After an appearance on May 27, he was sitting on an ERA of 7.84 through 20 2/3 innings. But he got in a good groove from there, with an ERA of 1.83 over his next 34 1/3 innings. But he then allowed three earned runs against the Tigers on August 21, making one appearance after that before landing on the injured list due to a right forearm strain. He was activated off the IL on September 11 but made just one appearance before landing back on the IL, again due to a right forearm strain.

Fulmer is set to return to free agency after the World Series but his market will obviously be impact by today’s news of his surgery. The revision of the ulnar collateral ligament is a slightly different procedure to Tommy John surgery, but it involves the same ligament and the recovery is still significant enough that Fulmer is likely to miss all of the upcoming campaign.

Free agents in this position can sometimes find two-year deals, allowing them to make some money while rehabbing and giving the signing club control over a post-recovery season. Fulmer could perhaps seek out such a deal on the open market, but teams will naturally have some degree of wariness about the health of his elbow. Fulmer already underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019, as mentioned, and is now set for yet another significant procedure on the UCL in his throwing elbow.

The club also provided health updates on a few other players, with Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune among those to pass on the news. Righty Brad Boxberger, who finished the season on the injured list due to a right forearm strain, is expected to begin a throwing schedule in mid-November. He and the Cubs have a mutual option for 2024 but those are rarely picked up by both sides, meaning he is likely to wind up a free agent as well. In terms of Cubs likely to be back next year, each of right-hander Nick Burdi, lefty Brandon Hughes, righty Ethan Roberts and infielder Nick Madrigal are expected to have normal offseasons.

Cubs Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Cubs announced several roster moves this afternoon. The club selected the contracts of right-handers Shane Greene and Tyler Duffey, while transferring infielder Nick Madrigal and right-hander Michael Fulmer to the 60-day IL to clear space on the 40-man roster for the duo. Right-hander Hayden Wesneski and left-hander Jordan Wicks were optioned to the minors to make room for the duo on the active roster. In a separate pair of moves, second baseman Nico Hoerner was placed on the 10-day IL with a left knee contusion while infielder Jared Young was recalled to replace Hoerner on the active roster.

Greene is in the tenth season of his big league career, having debuted as a member of the Yankees back in 2014. From 2017-2020, Greene was a strong set-up option at the back of the bullpen for the Tigers and Braves, posting a 3.25 ERA and 4.04 FIP in 221 1/3 innings of work, including his lone All Star campaign in 2019. Unfortunately, he’s struggled badly since then with a 6.83 ERA in 27 2/3 innings since the start of the 2021 campaign. Greene was selected to the major league roster by the Cubs earlier this year, but recorded just one scoreless inning before being outrighted off the 40-man roster. Now he’s back for the final game of the season, with the Cubs having been eliminated from postseason contention last night.

Duffey, 31, spent his entire career as a member of the Twins prior to the 2023 campaign. Since his debut in 2015, he’s posted a 4.57 ERA and 3.96 FIP in 475 innings of work with Minnesota. Upon hitting free agency last offseason, Duffey signed on with the Cubs on a minor league deal but is only just cracking the big league roster despite a solid 3.77 ERA in 45 1/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level. That’s in part thanks to a elevated 12.6% walk rate. Still Duffey posted a solid 29% strikeout rate and will now appear in the ninth big league season of his career, should he get into today’s game.

Departing the roster to make room for the pair of veterans are Wesneski and Wicks, a pair of youngsters who each got auditions in the Chicago rotation this season. Wesneski posted a 4.72 ERA and 5.52 FIP across 87 2/3 innings of work with the big league club, while Wicks sported a sterling 3.00 ERA and solid 3.96 FIP through six starts before getting shelled during last night’s game against the Brewers in Milwaukee, which raised his season stats in the majors to a 4.41 ERA and 4.70 FIP. Both youngsters figure to enter Spring Training next season as potential options for the Cubs at the major league level.

Meanwhile, Hoerner heads to the IL after fouling a pitch off his knee during Friday’s game and sitting out on Saturday. With the Cubs having been eliminated from postseason contention last night, clearly the club saw no reason to have Hoerner play through the injury on the last day of the season. It was a strong campaign for Hoerner, who slashed .283/.346/.383 in 688 trips to the plate while going 43-for-50 on the basepaths and playing elite defense at second base. Taking Hoerner’s place on the active roster is Young, a 27-year-old rookie who made his MLB debut with the Cubs last year. Through 65 trips to the plate in the big leagues the past two seasons, Young has slashed .224/.308/.466 while playing first base and right field.

The moves are purely procedural for both Madrigal and Fulmer, who were already on the injured list through the end of the season.

Nick Madrigal Suffers Grade 2 Hamstring Strain

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September 20: The strain is of a Grade 2 variety, Madrigal told reporters (including Bruce Levine of 670 The Score). That’s a reasonably significant injury that often requires a few weeks of recovery, though Madrigal stated he’s without a current timetable for a return.

September 19: The Cubs placed infielder Nick Madrigal on the 10-day injured list, with a retroactive placement date of September 17.  Infielder Jared Young was called up from Triple-A Iowa to take Madrigal’s spot on the active roster.

Madrigal suffered a right hamstring strain that forced him to make an early exit from Saturday’s game, and after a few days of examination, a trip to the IL became inevitable.  “We got some imaging and it’s worse than expected,” Cubs manager David Ross told MLB.com and other reporters.

This is the second time Madrigal has strained his right hamstring this season, with the previous injury costing him most of July.  Despite that somewhat lengthy past timeline, Ross is “not ruling out hopefully postseason [availability]” for the infielder should the Cubs reach the playoffs.  “He’ll still be working and trying to get back, but it’s just the same hamstring — just worse than we thought.”

Madrigal has hit .263/.311/.352 over 294 plate appearances this season, and that lack of pop made playing time hard to come by earlier in the season.  With Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner entrenched in the middle infield positions, Madrigal was limited to mostly part-time at-bats with Patrick Wisdom at third base.  Madrigal began to earn a larger share of playing time throughout the summer, and even after Jeimer Candelario was acquired at the trade deadline, Madrigal still got some looks at the hot corner when Candelario was utilized at first base (with Cody Bellinger playing center field).

More third base time opened up when Candelario hit the IL with a bad back last week, and with Madrigal now also out, Wisdom and Christopher Morel figure to split time until Candelario returns.  Chicago’s fight for a wild card slot has been hampered by a few notable injuries in the last few weeks, with Marcus Stroman missing significant time and the likes of Candelario, Adbert Alzolay, Michael Fulmer, and now Madrigal all out.

Central Notes: Bibee, Madrigal, Yelich, Perez

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Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee exited yesterday’s game due to right hip tightness in the sixth inning of yesterday’s win over the Rangers, as relayed by MLB.com. Bibee is scheduled to undergo an MRI today to determine the severity of the issue.

It’s the latest negative development for a Guardians rotation that’s been plagued by injury woes all year. Right-handers Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie are both currently on the 60-day injured list, while righty Cal Quantrill also missed significant time with injury earlier this season. With the club’s three most established starters having spent time on the shelf this season, Bibee has become the rotation’s anchor during his rookie season. The 24-year-old youngster sports an impressive 2.98 ERA that’s 41% better than league average across 25 starts this year. While his 3.52 FIP and and slightly inflated 80% strand rate indicate there could be some regression in Bibee’s future, his solid 24.1% strikeout rate and strong 7.7% walk rate give him the look of a strong mid-rotation starter at the very least.

If Bibee’s injury ends his 2023 campaign, it will have certainly been a successful one that figures to garner some attention in AL Rookie of the Year voting. The Guardians are unlikely to be meaningfully impacted by his availability for the remainder of this season, however. Considering Cleveland sits seven games back of the Twins in the AL Central with just thirteen games left to play, it would take a miracle for the club to make the postseason even in the weak AL Central division.

More from around MLB’s Central divisions…

  • Cubs infielder Nick Madrigal exited yesterday’s 13-inning marathon loss to the Diamondbacks with right hamstring tightness, as relayed by Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. Madrigal’s balky right hamstring has caused him issues throughout his young big league career: it required season-ending surgery while he was with the White Sox back in 2021, and he missed just under a month with a strain earlier this season. A former top prospect who was selected fourth overall in the 2018 draft, Madrigal has slashed just .283/.311/.352 (83 wRC+) in 294 big league plate appearances this season. That being said, the 26-year-old has hit better since returning to the big leagues from an optional assignment in early June, slashing .271/.325/.379 with a minuscule 7.7% strikeout rate. With Jeimer Candelario already on the shelf, the Cubs figure to primarily rely on Patrick Wisdom at third base for the time being if Madrigal is out for an extended period.
  • Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich has appeared in just one game since September 8 due to low back stiffness, and manager Craig Counsell (as relayed by MLB.com) indicates that the 31-year-old is still day-to-day despite starting Friday’s game against the Nationals. “At this point, we need 100 percent of Christian Yelich.” Counsell told reporters yesterday, “It’s not the time to go out there less than that.” Though Yelich is still nowhere near the level of production he enjoyed in 2018 and 2019 when he looked like one of the best players in the sport, the veteran outfielder has enjoyed a bounce-back of sorts in 2023, slashing a solid .272/.363/.432 with a wRC+ of 116. The club has utilized Joey Wiemer and Tyrone Taylor in the outfield alongside regular fixtures Sal Frelick and Mark Canha while Yelich has been unavailable.
  • Royals catcher Salvador Perez exited yesterday’s game against the Astros after a foul ball off the bat of Jose Altuve struck his mask in the fifth inning. Perez began to feel lightheaded before exiting the game to undergo the concussion protocol, though the Royals later announced that Perez had avoided a concussion. Per MLB.com, manager Matt Quatraro told reporters that Perez “got his bell rung a little bit” but that Perez was feeling fine by the end of the game. It’s possible, then, that Perez returns to the lineup as soon as this afternoon. Perez has slashed .252/.291/.415 with a wRC+ of 84 in 551 trips to the plate this year while splitting time between catcher, first base, and DH.

Cubs Select Daniel Palencia

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The Cubs have selected the contract of right-hander Daniel Palencia, a move first reported by Marcos Grunfeld of El Emergente. The full slate of moves, as relayed by Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic, also sees infielder Patrick Wisdom activated from the injured list. In corresponding active roster moves, infielder Nick Madrigal has been placed on the 10-day IL with a right hamstring strain while right-hander Hayden Wesneski has been optioned. To open a spot on the 40-man for Palencia, righty Brad Boxberger was transferred to the 60-day IL.

Palencia, 23, was originally a prospect with the Athletics, but came over to the Cubs in the 2021 trade that sent lefty Andrew Chafin to Oakland. He’s worked mostly as a starter, but the club recently converted him to relief work upon promoting him to Triple-A.

The results there have been mixed, as he’s posted an ERA of 7.90 through 13 outings. That’s a small sample and there might be some fluky bad luck in there, considering his 50.9% strand rate. He’s struck out 27.3% of batters faced while walking 10.6%. His 4.09 FIP suggests he has deserved better results than he’s actually gotten so far. The Cubs will give him a shot at getting big league hitters out and hope that the wheel of fortune spins in a better direction for him going forward.

Madrigal left yesterday’s game with hamstring tightness and will sit out the next 10 days. It’s unclear how severe his injury is, but the upcoming All-Star break would allow him to miss only a handful of games if it’s on the minor side. He’s only struck out in 9.6% of his plate appearances but has just one home run, producing a .278/.335/.364 batting line. His roster spot will go to a hitter with the opposite profile, as Wisdom has 14 homers but a massive 38.9% strikeout rate, leading to a line of .196/.285/.467.

As for Boxberger, he’ll been on the injured list since May 14 due to a right forearm strain. He’ll now be ineligible to return until 60 days from that initial IL placement, meaning he can technically return after the All-Star break. But since he hasn’t yet started a rehab assignment, that doesn’t seem especially likely, making this transaction a mere formality.

Cubs Reinstate Kyle Hendricks, Option Nick Madrigal

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May 25: The Cubs have announced to reporters, including Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune, that Hendricks has been officially reinstated with Nick Madrigal optioned in a corresponding move.

May 24: The Cubs are going to be reinstate right-hander Kyle Hendricks from the injured list, with Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic among those to relay the information from manager David Ross. Hendricks will start Thursday’s game against the Mets.

Hendricks, 33, will be making his first major league appearance in almost a year. He last climbed the hill on July 5 of last year, after which he was placed on the injured list with a shoulder strain. Initial MRIs didn’t reveal any structural damage but he was eventually diagnosed with a capsular tear. The tear was relatively small and didn’t require surgery, but he has nonetheless required a lengthy period of time to get back to full health.

The righty had spent many years as a reliable cog in the Cubs’ rotation prior to falling off a bit in recent seasons. From 2014 to 2020, he logged over a thousand innings with a 3.12 ERA. His 20.8% strikeout rate in that time was on the modest side but he showed excellent control with a 5.3% walk rate and kept the ball on the ground at a 47.5% clip. That also included several strong postseason starts, such as 2016 when he took the ball five times with a 1.42 ERA and helped the Cubs win the World Series for the first time in over a century. He’s now the only Cubs player from that curse-breaking club that’s still on the roster.

In 2021 and 2022, however, he posted a combined 4.78 ERA with all of his rate stats worsening by a bit. He stuck out 17.3% of batters faced while walking 6% and getting grounders on 41% of balls in play. Hendricks has been rehabbing in recent weeks, making five starts with a 5.75 ERA in that time. However, most of that damage came in the first two outings, as he had a 1.69 ERA in the final three. Only time will tell what sort of results he can post at the major league level after the long injury layoff.

The Cubs’ starters have a collective 3.93 ERA this year, which places them 10th out of the 30 clubs in the league. Marcus Stroman, Justin Steele and Drew Smyly are all posting good results, though Jameson Taillon has an 8.10 ERA through seven starts. There’s surely a lot of bad luck in there given his .369 batting average on balls in play and 50% strand rate, leading to a nicer 4.93 FIP and 4.52 SIERA. He’ll undoubtedly have a long leash to figure things out since he just signed a four-year, $68MM deal this winter. Hendricks figures to take the rotation spot of Hayden Wesneski, who was recently optioned after posting a 5.03 ERA through eight starts.

The performance of Hendricks in the remainder of this season will impact the club on the field but also from a business perspective. He and the club signed a four-year $55.5MM extension going into 2019, with 2023 being the final guaranteed season. He’s making $14MM this season and the club has a $16MM club option for 2024 with a $1.5MM buyout.

Cubs Notes: Madrigal, Wesneski, Leiter Jr.

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Cubs infielder Nick Madrigal has only played second base in his big league career thus far, but he’s not likely to see a lot of time there this year. The club’s major investment this offseason was signing shortstop Dansby Swanson, thus pushing Nico Hoerner over to second base. That nudged Madrigal into a competition for time at third base this spring, one in which he seems to have held himself well.

“He’s got to hit,” manager David Ross tells Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. “He still has to perform. That goes for just about everybody. He has missed a lot of time, but he looks really good and his timing looks good. We’ll see how camp plays out, but I definitely think he’s answered questions at third base. There’s no hesitation to put him in there.”

For his part, Madrigal also feels good about how things are going. “I’m focused one day at a time,” Madrigal said. “I’m feeling really good at the plate. Defensively, I feel like it’s all coming together. My body’s in a completely different spot this year compared to last year. I’m just looking forward to what’s ahead.”

Madrigal was hitting .305/.349/.425 for the White Sox in 2021 when a significant hamstring injury ended his campaign. Nonetheless, the Cubs acquired him in the Craig Kimbrel trade at that year’s deadline. Unfortunately, injuries hampered him yet again in 2022, as he made multiple trips to the IL and hit just .249/.305/.282. As noted by Ross, Madrigal will have to hit to hold onto that third base job, but it sounds like the club is fine with him from a defensive standpoint. Should he struggle at the plate, he’ll likely be fending off challenges from players like Christopher Morel, Zach McKinstry and Miles Mastrobuoni. Patrick Wisdom could also be a factor, though he might be getting some more time in the outfield corners with Seiya Suzuki set to begin the season on the IL.

More news out of Cubs camp…

  • The Cubs will also be deciding who their fifth starter is, with Marcus Stroman, Jameson Taillon, Drew Smyly and Justin Steele taking the first four spots. It’s viewed by many to be a race between Hayden Wesneski and Adrian Sampson, but Mooney reports that Wesneski is pulling away right now. Sampson, 31, had a nice season for the Cubs in 2022, posting a 3.11 ERA in 104 1/3 innings. However, he’s struggled badly so far this spring, giving up eight home runs in 8 1/3 innings, leading to a 14.04 ERA. Wesneski, 25, has been much better, throwing 8 2/3 scoreless frames with 11 strikeouts. Spring stats tend not to mean too much in the grand scheme of things, but it could be enough to push Wesneski ahead in this case. He also has the higher upside of the two, given he’s younger, has six remaining years of club control and is generally considered one of the club’s top prospects.
  • Another decision the Cubs will have to make is whether or not to give right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. a roster spot. Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports that Leiter has an opt-out in his contract that would allow him to return to free agency if he’s not added by March 30, which also happens to be Opening Day. The righty has a solid season for the Cubs last year, tossing 67 2/3 innings over 35 appearances with a 3.99 ERA. However, he exhausted his final option year and had reduced roster flexibility, perhaps contributing to getting outrighted off the roster in January. He elected free agency but returned to the Cubs on a minor league deal.
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