Chicago Cubs: Adbert Alzolay shines in return against Twins

Adbert Alzolay had struggled for the Chicago Cubs prior to leaving his last start back on August 13 in Miami. After giving up six runs against the Marlins, his season numbers ballooned to a 5.16 ERA, 5.12 FIP and 1.2 WHIP in 106 1/3 innings pitched.

Shortly thereafter, Chicago placed the young right-hander on the IL with a hamstring strain and he went on to miss the next few weeks. After recovering and rehabbing in the minors, Alzolay returned to the Cubs on Wednesday night in Minnesota where he pitched a gem in relief.

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After five one-hit innings from Justin Steele (which is great to see), Alzolay took over in the sixth inning with a 3-0 lead. He then put on an absolute show as he threw four scoreless innings and allowed just one baserunner, a Brent Rooker single, while striking out five. He threw 40 pitches over those four innings and threw 30 of them for strikes. Alzolay notched the good old-fashioned four-inning save, the first save of his career.

There was nothing flukey about his outing, either. The four-seam fastball was where it normally is in the mid-90s (94-96 MPH) with great movement on the slider (upper-80s on the velo). All of his pitches were located near perfectly. In short, he was in total command. In the sixth and eighth innings, he threw fewer than 10 pitches to get three outs.

Chicago Cubs: Adbert Alzolay showed why he could be a piece of the future

This had to feel good for Alzolay. In his previous 10 outings, all starts, Alzolay had averaged roughly 4.2 innings with 3.5 earned runs given up. His cumulative ERA over those starts equated to a 6.47 ERA with a .274/.337/.537 slash against and a whopping 14 home runs given up.

Wednesday’s outing will be great for him to build off going forward. It allowed him to come in and relief but also pitch multiple innings. That will be the plan for Alzolay for the rest of the year, according to David Ross. He’ll work exclusively out of the pen barring something changing in the team’s rotation situation.

“He’ll come out of the ‘pen,” Ross said. “Try to control his innings out of the ‘pen, unless something changes in our rotation.”

Wednesday was a great night for Cubs fans looking for answers for the future when it comes to pitching. Steele going five innings and Alzolay following that up was impressive to see. Let’s hope that was just a taste of what’s to come.