Cubs Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month: May 2024

[matto1233]

Today, we complete our May 2024 awards series by touting the Cubs minor league bullpen arms that performed well in May. 

Image courtesy of Tennessee Smokies

We believe that it is appropriate to let people know when relief pitchers do their job well. Seemingly, relief pitchers only get talked about when they blow a save or have a rough outing. 

Honorable Mention
RHP Ethan Roberts - ACL Cubs/Tennessee Smokies/Iowa Cubs - 7 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 7 2/3 IP, 3 H, 4 BB, 9 K
Only having 7 2/3 IP is keeping Roberts in the honorable mention section, but it certainly is worth mentioning: Ethan Roberts is back. In case you have forgotten, after making the Cubs’ Opening Day roster in 2022, Roberts got into nine games for the team that year before succumbing to Tommy John Surgery. After one scoreless appearance for the ACL Cubs, and then one scoreless appearance for the Tennessee Smokies, Roberts is now at AAA with the Iowa Cubs, where he has struck out nine batters in six innings pitched.

Top Three Relief Pitchers for May 2024
3. RHP Nico Zeglin - Myrtle Beach Pelicans - 6 G, 2.84 ERA, 0.947 WHIP, 12 ⅔ IP, 10 H, 2 BB, 18 K
Zeglin pitched the past two seasons in the Independent Leagues before the Cubs signed him to a minor league contract in April. So far, the early returns have been fantastic. At age 24, Zeglin is old for Class A ball, but we’ll have to see how long he sticks around. His strikeout to walk ratio is 12th among 196 Carolina League pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched, and his 63.9% ground ball ratio is fourth. Striking a lot of guys out, walking few, and keeping the ball on the ground is a great recipe for success in a reliever. 

2. RHP Fraimin Marte - ACL Cubs - 6 G, 0.96 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 9 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 12 K
Marte is a 22-year-old in Rookie ball for the Cubs, but I try not to exclude people based on prospect status, and his performance is certainly worthy of an inclusion here, in my opinion. Anyone that is striking out a good number of guys while walking so few out of the bullpen is going to get attention. We’ll see if it sticks for Marte, or what his future is with the Cubs, but he absolutely deserves his flowers for the numbers that he posted this past May. 

1. RHP Frankie Scalzo, Jr. - Tennessee Smokies - 9 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.48 WHIP, 10 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Congrats to Scalzo for winning both the April and the May award for Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month. The guy just refuses to allow a run, as he is now up to 20 ⅔ IP on the season without an earned run allowed. Scalzo was a 14th round pick out of Grand Canyon in 2021, and made his way to Class AA after pitching to a 2.31 ERA in Class High A last season. 

The thing that absolutely fascinates me about Scalzo is that he has had this rung of success without striking a ton of guys out. His 18.4 percent strikeout rate is one of the lowest in the Southern League, but he allowed just a .114 batting average against him in May and he walked only one opposing hitter. Independent of his pitching, his mustache is an 80 on the 20-80 scouting scale. 

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[JBears79]

Put all of them in the big league bullpen right now