Cubs Minor League Reliever of the Month: July 2024

Honorable Mention

LHP Angel Hernandez - Myrtle Beach Pelicans - 4 G, 0.73 ERA, 0.730 WHIP, 12 ⅓ IP, 4 H, 5 BB, 20 K
Hernandez spent the entire 2022 and 2023 seasons with Myrtle Beach to much worse results. After posting a 5.79 ERA in 2022 and a 4.14 ERA in 2023, he started the 2024 season in South Bend, which was borderline disastrous. He gave up 19 earned runs in just 12 ⅔ innings, mostly thanks to a lack of control: the young left-hander walked 23.9 percent of the hitters he faced. 

This is something he has always struggled with. His walk rate hovered around 18 percent during his past two seasons in Myrtle Beach. Upon returning to the Pelicans in mid-May, his walk rate dropped to 14.2 percent through the end of June, and in July, it went down to 10.87 percent. That’s still high, but not the end of the world for someone who also rocked a 43.48 percent strikeout rate that same month. At 24, he’s old for his league, but perhaps he has finally figured this out, and a promotion is in his future. 

Top Three Relief Pitchers for July 2024

3. RHP Sam McWilliams - Iowa Cubs - 8 G, 1.64 ERA, 1.273 WHIP, 11 IP, 5 H, 9 BB, 13 K
McWilliams, for those unaware, is an incredible story. You should read the Des Moines Register’s full account of it, but in short, he had retired from professional baseball after bouncing around the minor leagues from 2014 through 2022. He was working as a salesman, and when a friend asked him to fill in and play in an exhibition game in the Mexican Pacific League, McWilliams obliged and eventually made his way back to the minor leagues with the Cubs. 

His full-season numbers aren’t impressive: a 6.67 ERA in 58 innings pitched. A 13.6 percent walk rate hasn’t helped. However, in July, it clicked for McWilliams. He was still walking a lot of hitters, but hitters managed just five hits, all singles, against him in 46 plate appearances. The 32.1 percent strikeout rate for the season suggests that the stuff is there, and in their midseason prospect update, Fangraphs even slapped a 35+ future value on him and ranked him the 33rd-best prospect in the organization. Let’s hope for more months, like July, when it all comes together. 

2. LHP Mitchell Tyranski - South Bend Cubs - 7 G, 0.82 ERA, 0.546 WHIP, 11 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 9 K
The Cubs signed the former 12th-round draft pick of the Dodgers in late April and immediately moved him from Myrtle Beach to South Bend after just one appearance. Tyranski had issues limiting walks and home runs in his first couple of months with South Bend, allowing four home runs and a 12.79 percent walk rate. 

In July, though, the former Michigan State Spartan basically cut all of that out. His walk rate dropped to 5.13 percent, and he did not allow a single home run. Couple that with a still decent 23 percent strikeout rate, and Tyranski had the best month of his brief Cubs tenure.

1. RHP Nick Hull - South Bend Cubs - 7 G, 1.26 ERA, 0.977 WHIP, 14 ⅓ IP, 6 H, 8 BB, 21 K
The 2022 draft pick out of Grand Canyon has had a mid-season renaissance for the South Bend Cubs, culminating in a July performance that is probably the best month of his young professional career. Hitters hit just .122 against him, mostly thanks to a 35.59 percent strikeout rate. 

That bump in strikeout rate is particularly notable because Hull has never been a huge strikeout guy, at least to this extent. Last season, his strikeout rate in Myrtle Beach was 24.4 percent and 16.9 percent in his brief cameo in South Bend. His previous career high for a month was May of 2023 when he struck out roughly 30 percent of the hitters he faced. Congrats to Nick Hull on a great month of July. The elevated strikeout rate is certainly something to monitor for his career going forward.