Cubs Place Julian Merryweather on Injured List, Call Up Keegan Thompson and Daniel Palencia

The first move that trickled out Tuesday afternoon placed Julian Merryweather on the injured list with right knee tendinitis. Merryweather is coming off a rough outing in Miami, in which he allowed four runs in one inning of work. His fastball velocity was down a little, but it’s hard to know if the loss of speed was injury-related. It's been a rough season for Merryweather, who spent most of the year on the shelf already, and could remain there now for the balance of the campaign. It sounds as though this has been nagging him since last year. 

The corresponding action for Merryweather’s injury is the promotion of Keegan Thompson. Thompson has done well in Iowa this season, with a 2.96 ERA in 20 games. In his last 22 innings, he has only allowed 2 earned runs, while racking up 32 strikeouts. Thompson fractured his rib back in June, but appears to be at full strength right now, He’s kept his walks down, too, giving up only three free passes since returning from the injured list. One of the best parts of Thompson’s skill set is the ability to throw more than one inning at a time, which could be useful down the stretch.

Daniel Palencia was out for most of June, but after returning to Triple-A Iowa, he’s been lights out. This season in Triple-A, he has a 15.5 K/9, although the walks can be an issue. His velocity has topped out at 102.5 miles per hour. Even with poor command at times, he’s still a really valuable name to have in the bullpen for the late innings. Like Thompson, he's back with the big-league team as of Tuesday night.

To make room for Palencia, the Cubs demoted rookie reliever Jack Neely, who was acquired from the Yankees in the trade for Mark Leiter Jr. back in July. The towering rookie has had a rough start in Chicago. In his first outing, he gave up four earned runs, but that was followed by two scoreless appearances with three strikeouts. Monday was his last outing with the major-league club, for now, after a two-run home run to Connor Joe ballooned his ERA even more. With a month left in the season, there is still a chance Neely is called up again, but it’s unfortunate that his first stint was so short.

Thompson and Palencia are a new look for the bullpen, and since it sounds like Merryweather's injury was making it hard to count on his availability from day to day, the ever-versatile Thompson seems to be an upgrade in terms of flexible usage. Meanwhile, Palencia provides the same kind of upside as Neely, who didn't pass his first test at the highest level. This feels like an effort to improve the bullpen, constrained by the limited options available to the team but with a kernel of hope remaining for a hot finish to the season. In that way, it makes sense, although it's a long shot that it will make a material difference.