Chicago Cubs: Carl Edwards Jr. forced back into old delivery

Chicago Cubs: Edwards should have been told sooner his delivery was illegal

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Now, I understand that the delivery is illegal and he can’t use it. That’s all fine and good, but what took Major League Baseball so long to let Edwards and the Cubs know it was illegal? He used his new delivery all throughout spring training, surely they would have seen it.

It would have made more sense for them to call Maddon or the Cubs and let them know in advance that he couldn’t pitch like that. Apparently according to Maddon in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, at the end of the Cubs final spring training game, umpire Bill Miller said that Edwards’ delivery would be a balk.

Performance-wise, Edwards struggled with the delivery as well. He entered the 8th inning with a 6-5 lead but gave it all away in a hurry. the reliever surrendered a leadoff single and a walk before giving up a three-run homer to Joey Gallo. He would then walk the next batter before being pulled without recording a single out.

It was quite a change of pace for Edwards who actually looked promising with his new delivery during spring training. He looked comfortable and in control, striking out eight batters while walking zero. That was the first time we’d seen him like that in a while, maybe since the end of 2017.