Chicago Cubs: Minor leaguers who could play a role in the pen

Chicago Cubs: Back to Dillon Maples again?

Dillon Maples’ name has been discussed often over the past few seasons as a potential contributor to the big league bullpen. He has major league caliber stuff, but his command has been sort of all over the place whenever he’s been called up to the major leagues.

Maples was a 14th round pick by the Cubs in the 2011 draft and stayed in the low minors throughout the early years of his professional career. However, after making some changes in 2017, he ascended all the way from High-A Myrtle Beach to Chicago as a September call up.

He spent most of 2018 at Triple-A Iowa and had a great season, throwing 38 2/3 innings with a 2.79 ERA. But once he got called up to the big leagues at the end of August, he struggled, to the tune of an 11.81 ERA in 5 1/3 innings.

Maples will have to prove he can get it together at the major league level before he can be a consistent contributor. But his stuff shows promise, and if he can start to throw strikes more consistently, he has a lot of potential.