Three Minor-League Pitchers That Could Help The Cubs In The Second Half

[RavenCub30]

The level of dissatisfaction with this Chicago Cubs team could not be higher, and yet, as the club migrates closer and closer to irrelevancy, what happens next may actually be quite interesting.

Image courtesy of © Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports - Michael Arias Pictured

When searching for reasons as to why the team dwells at the bottom of the NL Central, you can point to a plethora of factors: offensive futility with RISP, early-inning scoring droughts, and, of course, the Cubs’ abysmal bullpen. The bullpen has 17 blown saves, none currently more nausea-inducing than the one that took place this past Monday night in the Bay Area. Though the bullpen woes are well-documented and grow ever more concerning by the day, the starting pitching is sterling, if not unimpeachable. 

Just as Carmy Berzatto helps people eat, the Cubs’ starting pitching rotation helps win ball games or at least tries to. With a combined ERA of 3.96, the Cubs rank 15th overall in the majors, with absolutely profound work coming from their top three starters: Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, and Javier Assad. He stumbled back into a starter’s role since Ben Brown was placed on the 15-day IL, and even Kyle Hendricks had a 1.28 ERA in his last five appearances. Marquee’s Cliff Floyd said the Cubs lack fight regarding the team’s starting pitching. I disagree. It’s part of why, as a fan of the game, the pitcher position is my favorite because of its cornerstone significance to the roster. With an eye towards the future, the organization’s pitching looks to provide longevity and sustained contention for the big league ball club. With this in mind, let’s dissect who from the minors stands to have the most impact on the squad and how they might complement an already stout core.

Depending on which perspective you wish to view it from, the Cubs’ minor league system has already made its case for proficiency with the arrival of Ben Brown, the right-hander, who already boasts 64 strikeouts. Though his numbers are drawn from a mall sample size, Brown’s pitching repertoire and intangibles suggest he will prove instrumental to the Cub’s fortunes in the coming years.

Shifting our attention to Triple-A and Double-A ball, Counsell and the powers that be must keep a keen eye on the performance of the organization’s first overall prospect, Cade Horton. In 2024, Horton continues to move through the ranks, coming from the Tennessee Smokies, then up to AAA Iowa, where he’s remained consistent, allowing just 31 hits, though 5 of those are round-trippers. With the club's considerable investment in Horton, it seems unlikely that we’ll see him called up to the majors this year. 

Another standout in the organization’s crop of right-handers is Michael Arias, the 22-year-old who expects to be up with the big club by sometime in 2025. Arias boasts a sub-four ERA and a 1.62 WHIP between Triple-A and Double-A this season. Perhaps, when he makes his debut on the North side of Chicago, he’ll step in to help chew up some long relief innings or even rack up critical outs to secure some of these tight games the Cubs seem so fond of finding themselves in. 

One last farmhand to think about as we pontificate about what the return of championship baseball will look like for the Cubs is the towering 6’6 righty, Jaxon Wiggins. This is certainly more of a crystal ball look, as Wiggins is only now with the Low-A Myrtle Beach club, but the news has been promising from the start. Not expected to arrive in the majors until 2026, Wiggins is still relatively early in his gestation process, but he only allows a .180 batting average to opposing hitters. That propensity for keeping runners off the base pads could prove huge for the Cubs’ long-term aspirations.

No matter how encouraging the future of this team is on both offense and defense, there’s no denying that we all aspired for different outcomes this season. Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins insist on promoting from within and speaking with great confidence that the next Cubs team to hang a banner is waiting in the wings. As implausible as that sounds, maybe it is. 

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[Rex Buckingham]

the idea of Wiggins helping the Cubs in the 2nd half is laughable... Horton and Arias on the other hand, sign me up. After Horton gets back and has some solid results starting, I'm all for giving him a defined role in the bullpen - something like, you're going to essentially piggyback one of the lefties for 2-3 innings once or twice a week.

[Bertz]

Yeah Jaxon Wiggins chances of pitching for the MLB Cubs this year are about the same as mine.  Even if he continues dominating he'll get a couple starts at AA and that's it.

I also wonder about Horton in the bullpen.  With the injury he might need to stay in the rotation and keep making starts just to get innings.  He'll certainly get his cup of coffee but I'm no longer sure it'll be more.

I think if you're looking for MLB bullpen help from the minors, these are the guys I'm looking at, in order of likelihood:

- Daniel Palencia.  He looked *really* close to having figured it out when he went down with injury.  That game he closed against the Brewers was maybe the most dominant inning from a Cub since Kimbrel left.  He's (knock on wood) healthy again so hopefully after another couple weeks of knocking off rust he can come back up and contribute.  He's no longer the shiny new toy but he's still IMO the most likely to be a GUY

- Hunter Bigge.  The only guy in the org who might have more velo in the tank than Palencia.  He started the season late due to injury but he is kicking ass at Iowa over the last few weeks and new for him actually throwing strikes.  Cubs Twitter is howling about him not being up yet, and that's silly with only 8.1 AAA innings under his belt, but he's not *that* far off

- Ethan Robert's.  His results at Iowa coming off of TJ are dominant.  He's not yet throwing as many strikes as I would like, and his velo is not yet where it was pre-surgery, but I do expect him up later this year and I'm hopeful he can be a thing