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Chicago Cubs’ have a lot of starting pitching depth in the minors
This season the Chicago Cubs have a lot of starting pitching depth held in reserve at Triple-A Iowa.
During the very beginning of this competitive window, the Cubs had barely any major league ready pitching depth in the minors. I’m not talking about prospects who might be a cornerstone of the pitching staff for years to come or even be a major piece in a trade. I’m talking about pitchers with at least some major league experience who could step in and make a spot start or be an arm in the bullpen should the need arises.
It was a little bit amazing that the pitching, which was not the developmental focus of the organization, arrived at a competitive state in the same year as the position players. Yes, the front office made some moves to acquire pitchers such as signing Jon Lester and Jason Hammel and trading for Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks, Pedro Strop and Justin Grimm.
Development is key
But if the young pitchers the Cubs traded for hadn’t developed so quickly then Theo and Jed would have needed to make more John Lackey/Jason Motte kinds of signings. That likely means it would have taken at least one more year for this group of Cubs to make the playoffs.
The Cubs were fortunate that during those early seasons they had very few pitching injuries that they needed to cover with call-ups from Triple-A. The most significant pitching deficiency the front office had to cover in 2015 was due to ineffectiveness.
It was a different time
Travis Wood and was expected to hold down a spot in the rotation, but he was forced to move to the bullpen. Just two years earlier Wood was an All-Star. Edwin Jackson was also in the middle of a four-year contract and had made 58 starts the two years before, but the Cubs were eventually forced to release him in 2015.
Since this front office had a philosophy of focusing first on developing hitters, there was almost no major league ready depth in the minors in 2015. Tsuyoshi Wada and Dallas Beeler were called up, but they combined to make only 10 starts in the rotation. Instead, the front office patched together the fifth spot in the rotation by acquiring Donn Roach, Clayton Richards and eventually Dan Haren.
Depth is available
This year’s pitching staff will have more major league ready starting depth available at Triple-A than any year since Tom Ricketts bought the team. If the Cubs need someone to make an emergency start or hold down a spot in the rotation for a while, they will have several options.
Last season Jen-Ho Tseng was named the Cubs minor league pitcher of the year for the second time. He made one start just before the end of the season for the big league club. That one start wasn’t great as Tseng gave up five runs in six innings. It appeared as if Tseng was understandably nervous to be making his first start in the major leagues. The good news after being signed as an armature free agent by the Cubs in 2013, Tseng is on the cusp of being a major leaguer.
Small chance
Eddie Butler is out of minor league options, so if he doesn’t make the major league team out of spring training, a rebuilding team will likely claim him on waivers. However, if there is an injury to a starting pitcher before opening day, Butler is perhaps the most likely candidate for the rotation other than Mike Montgomery.
To make room on their 40 man roster to sign Jason Hammel last off-season, the Kansas City Royals designated Alec Mills for assignment and then eventually traded him to the Cubs. Mills has only pitched 3 1/3 innings in the majors.
All of those happened in 2016 with the Royals. Last season Mills only pitched in 7 games; all starts in the Cubs minor league system because he spent most of the season dealing with an injury. If he is healthy, Mills could be the first choice to get called up from the minor leagues to be a starting pitcher in the majors. Either way, this will be an important year for Mills.
Another wave of arms
In 2016 Rob Zastryzny pitched in eight games, including one start for the Chicago Cubs and he only gave up two earned runs. Additionally, he pitched well in 23 other starts for Triple-A Iowa. However, Zastryzny spent most of 2017 dealing with an injury. He only appeared in 17 games at the Triple-A level, ten of them starts. Zastryzny did get called up to the majors again, but he wasn’t nearly as successful (8.31 ERA).
Luke Farrell spent 2017 bouncing around from team to team. On July 28, the Los Angeles Dodgers purchased him from the Royals. On August 9th the Cincinnati Reds claimed him on waivers from the Dodgers. And on October 4th the Cubs claimed him off of waivers from the Reds.
During all of those stops, Farrell ended up pitching a ton. He combined to appear in 40 games, made 37 starts and pitched 218 2/3 innings. 13 of those innings were in the majors with both the Royals and Reds. In total, he managed a 5.54 ERA. That’s not great, but he was much better at the end season with the Reds. There he pitched 10 1/3 innings to a 2.61 ERA.
Michael Roth is the Chicago Cubs opening day starting pitcher. For spring training. The lefty didn’t pitch in the major leagues in 2017. However, he has pitched 36 innings and made one start in the major leagues. Last season he pitched 111 2/3 innings in 25 appearances including 20 starts to a 4.84 ERA at the Triple-A level.
Some of these guys aren’t likely to be in the Cubs system past this season. But this year they offer depth to the starting rotation that was nearly non-existent in recent years.
Future rotation?
The Cubs do have a few other starting pitchers on the 40 man roster. These pitchers aren’t realistic options to join the rotation out of spring training, but they might be towards the end of the season.
With the Tampa Bay Rays, Drew Smyly worked with the Cubs new pitching coach Jim Hickey and manager Joe Maddon. So it wasn’t a surprise when the Cubs signed Smyly to a two-year contract this off-season. He is recovering from Tommy John surgery, so his contract is mostly about the next year and not this year.
Young arms
Adbert Alzolay is arguably the best prospect in the Cubs entire minor league organization regardless of position. He is expected to begin the season in the starting rotation at double-A. Hopefully, the Cubs won’t have any reason to rush him to the major leagues this season. However, he may earn the opportunity to make a few late-season starts this year similar to the one Tseng made towards the end of last season.
Oscar De La Cruz was added to the Cubs 40 man roster to protect him from the rule 5 draft. So De La Cruz could be promoted to the majors without the need to add him to the 40 man roster. However, De La Cruz isn’t considered to be as far along in his development as Alzolay.
De La Cruz finished the season with 3.46 ERA in 12 starts for the high-A level Myrtle Beach Pelicans. So it may be a reach to expect De La Cruz to make the leap all the way to the major leagues by the end of the season Then again, Dillon Maples did it last year for the Cubs in a relief role.
Time to produce
Duane Underwood Jr.
This is an important year for Duane Underwood Jr. Injuries have held him back from being as far along in his development as the Cubs would have hoped he would be by now. Underwood has also had difficulty developing pitches other than his fastball.
If he can’t develop some secondary pitches, he will eventually be converted to a reliever. Underwood has also had control problems even with his fastball. If he can’t do a better job of finding the strike zone, he won’t be in baseball much longer.
Next: Cubs' roster still holds some mystery
Last season the Cubs were able to cover multiple injuries to the starting rotation by moving Montgomery from the bullpen to the rotation, calling Butler up from the minors and trading for Jose Quintana. This season the Cubs already have several starting pitchers already in-house if they are needed.