6 homegrown pitchers on the Chicago Cubs active roster

6. Keegan Thompson

Going into 2023, Keegan Thompson was a no-doubt main contributor to the pitching staff in my mind. Although he had little success as a starter last year, he was more than capable out of the bullpen with a 1.47 ERA in 36.2 innings. But early season struggles this year saw Thompson take a Triple-A demotion back in May and he just made it back over this past weekend.

Although the sample size is very small, Thompson's lone outing since returning to the big-league roster was encouraging. In 2 innings of low-leverage work, Thompson gave up 1 hit and set down 5 hitters via strikeout with is velocity noticeably higher than it had been earlier in the year. If he can get back to the guy he was last year, the bullpen will be much better with Julian Merryweather, Mark Leiter Jr, and Alzolay in front of him.