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.

Jen-Ho Tseng

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

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.

Alec Mills

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

Rob Zastryzny

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

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

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.