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3 candidates to replace Yency Almonte in the Cubs bullpen
Yency Almonte may find himself out of a job soon, and here are three pitchers who can step in
The Chicago Cubs have an obvious weak link in their bullpen in right-hander Yency Almonte, who has struggled in the team's first two series.
It's not time to hit the eject button on Almonte quite yet, but things are trending in that direction. The Cubs acquired the 29-year-old alongside first baseman Michael Busch on January 12 and he was supposed to be the other major addition to the bullpen with set-up man Hector Neris. But Almonte has struggled mightily out of the gate, with four earned runs in 2.0 innings pitched and three walks.
Almonte's leash should be fairly short for a couple of reasons. For one, he wasn't that good last year for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Over 49 appearances, Almonte posted a ballooned ERA of 5.06 and he walked 24 batters in 48 innings pitched. With the Cubs looking to compete for the division and make the playoffs, that kind of production just isn't going to cut it.
There is also a time limit on Almonte's roster status. According to Cubs' prospect insider Arizona Phil, Almonte has no minor league options left and the team has until April 26 to outright him off the active roster without his consent. If he continues to perform poorly, the decision should be easy for the Cubs' front office. Who they choose to replace Almonte is a bit trickier, but here are three candidates.
1. RHP Colten Brewer
The Cubs took a flier on Colten Brewer in January when they signed the 31-year-old to a minor league deal. I wouldn't say Brewer has had an illustrious career, as his best season was with the Boston Red Sox in 2019. In 54.2 innings pitches, Brewer was a solid reliever with a 4.12 ERA and an ERA+ of 118. But that was five years ago at this point and Brewer has never come close to replicating that kind of production at the big league level.
But the Cubs have turned careers around before and it happened as recently as last season with Julian Merryweather and Mark Leiter Jr. His three appearances with the Yankees in 2023 are not an encouraging sample size, but Brewer did have a solid Spring Training this year with a 1.29 ERA in seven innings. It's early enough in the season that the Cubs can afford to see if Brewer has any gas left in the tank. It would be really neat to have three of your relievers be successful reclamation projects so I say give Brewer a shot.
2. Carl Edwards Jr.
A stir of excitement hit the Cubs fandom this offseason when the team signed former World Series reliever Carl Edwards Jr. to a minor league deal. A deal that the 32-year-old opted out of just a few weeks later after a solid Spring Training of 1.35 ERA ball in 6.2 innings pitched. It's understandable that Edwards probably wanted a better deal after a good 2023 season and it appears the Cubs may have given it to him. Des Moines Register reporter Tommy Birch spotted Edwards throwing with the Iowa Cubs before Thursday night's game in Toledo so he may be back with the organization after all.
Just spotted Carl Edwards Jr., throwing with the @IowaCubs pitchers in the outfield at Principal Park before batting practice.
— Tommy Birch (@TommyBirch) April 4, 2024
Edwards would be a great replacement for Almonte just on his past success with the organization alone. He came up in the Cubs' farm system, pitched well during their competitive years in the late 2010s and was a fan-favorite personality. His pitching profile is also well suited for the current Cubs' team as Edwards now induces more groundballs (46% GB rate in 2023) than he did earlier in his career. As long as those groundballs find anyone except for Christopher Morel over at third most of the time, he should be in good shape.
3. Daniel Palencia
If the Cubs want to opt for more power, they could give Daniel Palencia another shot. The 24-year-old has a blistering fastball that we saw him collect 33 strikeouts with at the big league level last season. But Palencia's problems are in the control department as he also walked 14 batters in 28.1 innings. He only walked one batter in Spring Training this year, but he also gave up eight earned runs in 6.2 innings so it wasn't exactly encouraging.
From a roster standpoint, however, Palencia makes sense because he is already on the 40-man roster and he still has all three of his waiver options available. Meaning that he he comes up and struggles, the team can send him back down to Triple-A with little harm done. There has been a lot of hype around Palencia in recent years for his raw ability, but I feel like we're starting to get into the put-up or shut-up territory.
He needs to start showing progress with his control issues and whether he can consistently handle getting outs without issuing free passes. If the Cubs want to know whether Palencia has accomplished that yet, it could be time to throw him in the deep end of the pool and call him up to replace Almonte.
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