Starting rotation options available now

[gflore34]

What's that for Wicks at Iowa strong starts back to back?  I wonder if he's getting close?  I'd like to see him get another shot maybe, against the Cardinals?  If successful perhaps, move him into the rotation and move Horton to Iowa or the bullpen?  Horton may turn out to be a good to very good MOR but, I'm convinced it's not going to happen this season. Might better serve the Cubs and Horton if he's moved to the pen for now.

[mul21]

Man, the people jumping off the Horton bandwagon after one bad start is pretty wild.  The kid didn't have his best stuff and got victimized by that stupid short porch in Houston.

[Rcal10]

53 minutes ago, mul21 said:

Man, the people jumping off the Horton bandwagon after one bad start is pretty wild.  The kid didn't have his best stuff and got victimized by that stupid short porch in Houston.

Anyone off the Horton bandwagon was never in it from the start. Speaking for myself, I would like to see Wicks get.a few starts so the Cubs can limit Horton’s innings, not because I thjnk he is doing poorly. Plus, Cubs started two lefties against the Cardinals and they each threw a shutout, so why not start another? I think Bertz suggested the same thing and based on previous posts from him, I do not think he is jumping off Horton either. As for any other posts, several posters who are “jumping off” honestly, where never in. 

[Dfan25]

2 hours ago, mul21 said:

Man, the people jumping off the Horton bandwagon after one bad start is pretty wild.  The kid didn't have his best stuff and got victimized by that stupid short porch in Houston.

I don’t think Horton should pitch an inning in the playoffs , and that was before the Houston start. He has been useful but , nothing more than that . Low strikeout numbers and this despite mostly having favorable matchups  most of the time .

 

i look at Horton much like i look at Shaw . I still like the future , but in a year when they are looking to win with a top 5 position player on an expiring contract , I really not interested in waiting for them to figure things out at the big league level .

[gflore34]

Just curious did Horton get any swing miss on breaking stuff the other night?  Could it be he's tipping his pitches or given, it's the Astros, something more nefarious?

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, Dfan25 said:

I don’t think Horton should pitch an inning in the playoffs , and that was before the Houston start. He has been useful but , nothing more than that . Low strikeout numbers and this despite mostly having favorable matchups  most of the time .

 

i look at Horton much like i look at Shaw . I still like the future , but in a year when they are looking to win with a top 5 position player on an expiring contract , I really not interested in waiting for them to figure things out at the big league level .

I think until his last start Horton has been a much better rookie than Shaw. He pitched fairly well, IMO. Yes, he does still need some work but he wasn’t a liability in the rotation. Shaw, except for a few weeks, has been a liability in the line up. To me the biggest issue with Horton would be depending on him the rest of the year. His innings could become a problem. 

[Geographyhater8888]

Ka’Bryan Hayes is a pirates third baseman Jed is reportedly interested in. I could see the pirate’s packaging him together with Mitch Keller but even a a right handed hitter he’s struggling at the plate vs both lefties and righties. Plays great defense. I’m assuming he’d be nothing more than an upgrade to the bench and might get some platoon action in place of Turner if he can play first base.

Edited July 1, 2025 by Geographyhater8888

[Geographyhater8888]

8 hours ago, gflore34 said:

Just curious did Horton get any swing miss on breaking stuff the other night?  Could it be he's tipping his pitches or given, it's the Astros, something more nefarious?

Hes been throwing pitches over the heart of the plate and hanging sliders all the way back to Iowa which simply is catching up to him. In a perfect world he’s a solid number 2 starter. 
 

his stuff is sufficient but hasn’t exactly blown me away either. His command will improve with experience and his changeup to me is his best off speed pitch.

Edited July 1, 2025 by Geographyhater8888

[thawv]

On 6/28/2025 at 6:39 PM, Rcal10 said:

But Lugo is lucky so he can’t be good. 

It looks like he's both lucky and good!!

[thawv]

On 6/29/2025 at 10:58 AM, Derwood said:

Luis Severino is 0-7, 6.79, 1.59 WHIP at home and 2-1, 2.27, 1.03 WHIP on the road

He said that he does not like pitching in a minor league ballpark with no fans. 

[CubUgly]

15 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

I think until his last start Horton has been a much better rookie than Shaw. He pitched fairly well, IMO. Yes, he does still need some work but he wasn’t a liability in the rotation. Shaw, except for a few weeks, has been a liability in the line up. 

I can't disagree, but I will say Shaw was finally starting to hit the ball hard, the last two games of the Cardinal series and two games against the Stros.....then he sat for two guys who have hit less than he has at his worst. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

Gallen was Gallen tonight 7 IP 10:0, 1 ER, gave up a HR

[muntjack]

Edward Cabrera was lights out,  as well. 

[Bertz]

I'm not going to write it up as a full rumor since it's written as if Mooney is speculating as opposed to reporting, but this in the Athletic this AM perked my ears up

Quote

 

At that point, Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd could all be free agents, leaving a much smaller nucleus. Ricketts’ long-range goal remains building a consistent, sustainable contender that avoids the extended down periods that marked so much of the franchise’s history.

Part of the strategy around this trade deadline, then, could be adding players who are already under club control for multiple seasons, such as Miami Marlins pitchers Edward Cabrera and Sandy Alcantara, the former Cy Young Award winner.

 

I really like Edward Cabrera, and I think the Marlins are a really good fit as a trade partner on the receiving end.

[Jason Ross]

7 minutes ago, Bertz said:

I'm not going to write it up as a full rumor since it's written as if Mooney is speculating as opposed to reporting, but this in the Athletic this AM perked my ears up

I really like Edward Cabrera, and I think the Marlins are a really good fit as a trade partner on the receiving end.

He's my favorite (and excuse the pun) "big fish" at the deadline. There are more and more things to like. 

Merrill is my favorite "rental". 

And I will stump for the next 1-3 years that I really want Jake Bird as a top reliever trade, I am certain. 

[Dfan25]

Keller with a solid outing against the Cards :

7 innings / 0 runs / / 1 BB / 7 K / 3.64 ERA now .

Edited July 2, 2025 by Dfan25

[Tryptamine]

12 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

Keller with a solid outing against the Cards :

7 innings / 0 runs / / 1 BB / 7 K / 3.71  ERA now .

He's not thrilling but much like Lugo he'd be a solid get. I just feel like he'd probably cost more than I'd like for a guy who been more just ok to solid.

[cubfansince77]

1 hour ago, Tryptamine said:

He's not thrilling but much like Lugo he'd be a solid get. I just feel like he'd probably cost more than I'd like for a guy who been more just ok to solid.

Just saw the end of this game...Bucs are on fire and Keller pitched great. His price just inched up I suppose. I do agree with you that the juice isn;'t worth the squeeze with him

[Rcal10]

16 minutes ago, cubfansince77 said:

Just saw the end of this game...Bucs are on fire and Keller pitched great. His price just inched up I suppose. I do agree with you that the juice isn;'t worth the squeeze with him

I like him, but he isn’t my favorite controlled starter that may be available. And he might cost a fair amount because of having control over him. I like Cabrera better, of guys who are surely available. Alcantara too.  If they don’t want to give up that much minor league talent they need to look at Kelly, Gallen, Lugo. Problem is none of them are definitely available yet. Soon, IMO they will be, but not now. 

[Stratos]

On 6/30/2025 at 11:21 AM, gflore34 said:

What's that for Wicks at Iowa strong starts back to back?  I wonder if he's getting close?  I'd like to see him get another shot maybe, against the Cardinals?  If successful perhaps, move him into the rotation and move Horton to Iowa or the bullpen?  Horton may turn out to be a good to very good MOR but, I'm convinced it's not going to happen this season. Might better serve the Cubs and Horton if he's moved to the pen for now.

Could give Horton some rest too in Iowa.  

[PeanutPunch33]

The guy they are facing tonight is kinda intriguing.  Obviously would require some significant prospect capital to get it done, but tons of control for a talented young pitcher.  He’s probably closer to a middle of the rotation guy than TORP but there is some potential there 

[Stratos]

On 6/30/2025 at 11:21 AM, gflore34 said:

What's that for Wicks at Iowa strong starts back to back?  I wonder if he's getting close?  I'd like to see him get another shot maybe, against the Cardinals?  If successful perhaps, move him into the rotation and move Horton to Iowa or the bullpen?  Horton may turn out to be a good to very good MOR but, I'm convinced it's not going to happen this season. Might better serve the Cubs and Horton if he's moved to the pen for now.

Wicks will be as good as his fastball. For whatever reason we can't develop good fastballs for our young SP, they always get pounded.   Even Steele's i imagine was more of a fluke.

All our young SP have very good secondaries but guys just sit on the FB and rake.  Even Wesneski was the same.

Mystifying that Horton's fastball gets clobbered with the sharp cutting action on it.  Hopefully that improves.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Horton doesn't exactly command the outside/shadow of the zone well. He throws a lot of fastballs in the middle.

[gflore34]

1 hour ago, Stratos said:

Wicks will be as good as his fastball. For whatever reason we can't develop good fastballs for our young SP, they always get pounded.   Even Steele's i imagine was more of a fluke.

All our young SP have very good secondaries but guys just sit on the FB and rake.  Even Wesneski was the same.

Mystifying that Horton's fastball gets clobbered with the sharp cutting action on it.  Hopefully that improves.

I believe a lot of his fastball getting clobbered has do with location.  I may be wrong but, it appears he leaves many pitches in the middle, middle-middle of the plate which get hit hard.  Tomorrow should be a favorable match up for him, let's see if he can put together a dominate start.

[Tryptamine]

Of the at least fairly reasonable options, not guys like Degrom who wont ever be available, I think I rank them like this at the moment

1) Joe Ryan-  He hits Arbitration next year and Minnesota is salary dumping getting ready for sale, that's the only reason he's possibly available.  Over the last two seasons he's posted a 3.24 ERA 3.37 FIP 3.49 xFIP. The cost would be damn near Mackenzie Gore high.

2) Pablo Lopez- Again, the Twins are looking to lower payroll. He's signed thru 2027 at 21.5M a year. This year he's posting a 2.82 ERA 2.99 FIP 3.54 xFIP. Cost would be high, but not quite as high as Ryan EDIT: Was unaware he was transferred to the 60 day DL which removes him from the list.

3) Edward Cabrera- The performance isn't up there with Ryan or Lopez but the upside is probably even higher. He seems to be ironing out his notorious control issues with a career low 3.79 BB/9 this year. 3.41 ERA 3.83FIP 3.80 xFIP. He's not a free agent until 2029 so the cost would still be rather high

4) Seth Lugo- He's a FA at the end of the year which means he shouldn't cost too much. FIP and xFIP have never really loved him but he consistently puts up solid ERAs. 2.74 ERA 4.18 FIP 4.02 xFIP

5) Merrill Kelly- Another rental piece, who has consistently been at least good if not very good in 3 of the last 4 years. 3.55ERA 3.48 FIP  3.49 xFIP

6) Mitch Keller- He's actually a really solid pitcher, not great but good, I just get the impression that due to him being under control through 2028 at a reasonable 16.5M in '26, 18M in '27 and 20M in '28 that his price will be much higher than I can stomach. 3.64 ERA 3.24 FIP 3.93 xFIP 

7) Yusei Kikuchi- The Angels almost certainly aren't selling yet, but if they take a turn for the worst he's a guy I'd absolutely love the Cub pitch lab to get their hands on. I really wanted him in the offseason. He's under control through 2027 where he'll make 21M in '26 and '27. 2.81 ERA 3.79 FIP 4.00 xFIP.

 

Guys I want no part of:

1) Alcantara- The price tag is way too high for a guy who has been mediocre to miserable for a season and a half now

2) Gallen- I don't know if it's mechanics or injury but something is very wrong there in both movement and velocity

3) Eflin- He was hurt, came back still hurt and pitched terribly, now he's on the IL again. It's a shame, he was a guy I had my eye on a month or or two ago as an acquisition.

4) Sugano- His regression to his peripherals has been hard and fast

5) Heaney- K/9 way down, and surviving on a babip 41 points below his career average. I don't think he gives you anything that Wicks, Assad, etc. couldn't give you other than reliable starts. 

6) Marquez- Only if the Cubs have a time machine to go back 4 or 5 years

7)  Anderson- Same as Heaney, I don't think he gives the Cubs anything they couldn't find internally other than a guy who's a pretty solid bet to make his starts

 

Edited July 3, 2025 by Tryptamine