Jason Ross

I'm as annoyed with Pearson as anyone but I don't think he needs a DFA spot right now. He's been bad, but I also don't think it's unfixable. Stuff+ still likes him a lot, meaning he's not declining. His location, specifically on the slider, is horrible right now. There's something jacked up mechanically. He was quite good in 26 innings with the Cubs last year. He has options. I'd send him to Iowa and give him a little time to figure that out. If the slider can be located down and glove side (like it had been) instead of up and in the middle of the plate...he's probably fine. No promise he can, but I think it's possible.

I think we have to pause a bit on the prospect stuff there. Palencia, Little and Neeley have yet to establish themselves, which is a fair criticism! But rookies do that. Palencia is the oldest of all of them and he's 25. It's fair to be skeptical of them, but if this isn't the time to see, then I don't know when it is. I do think it's kind of a time to see Palencia sink or swim a bit more. He's cruising through Iowa this year. I'm not opposed to signing Robertson, but a few caveats: 1. He's sitting at home for a reason. I won't claim to know what that reason is - but there's one. It could be a Robertson personal one, it could be teams are wary...whatever. But good players don't sit at home for nothing. 2. Even if the Cubs do sign him, it's going to take him probably a while to ramp up. He's been in no camp, he's not been throwing in games...he's a veteran and if he wants to play is likely not doing nothing, but it's probably a few weeks to get him going. You'd probably have to experiment with the names above regardless. I'm not sure if any of the names listed here will make themselves mainstays in the bullpen, but I wouldn't mind seeing any of them (for various reasons).

The Cubs bullpen blew another game Monday night. It wasn't all their fault this time, but that doesn't make me feel any better about it, and it probably doesn't make you feel better. On top of that, Eli Morgan appears to be hurt. Can the team stabilize the bullpen by looking to Iowa? Image courtesy of © David Frerker-Imagn Images The 2025 season has been pretty fun, so far. The Cubs are playing some of the best baseball we've seen the team play since the pre-pandemic world. This has resulted in a winning record against some of the best teams in baseball halfway through April. However, the fact that they're enjoyable doesn't mean everything has been perfect. The offense has been great, and the starting pitching has been pretty good (most days). Unfortunately, at times, the bullpen feels like it exists for the sole purpose of ruining the first six innings. Not every performance from the relievers has been bad, but overall, it's been the Cubs' biggest weakness to date. We can "woulda-coulda-shoulda" all we want, but no time machine exists to offer more money to Tanner Scott—and the Cubs offered him more than the Dodgers did, anyway, so who knows if it would have helped? Instead, looking internally for fixes, ways to shuffle things around, and solutions is the best we can do. Enter: Iowa. The Chicago Cubs have one of the deepest pools of prospects at their Triple-A level. While many of these prospects are of the offensive variety (Kevin Alcantara, Moises Ballesteros, Owen Caissie, James Triantos) and are of no help in this regard, there are plenty of pitchers who are either ready to go now or should be soon. While I'm not sure every issue the Cubs currently have can be simply solved by waving a magical "I-Cub" wand, there are enough arms within reach to at least block much of the leakage. Step 1: Nate Pearson has to go work on some things. Replace him with like-for-like. It's easy to want to drink the Nate Pearson Kool-Aid. The reliever stands 6-foot-6, throws 100 mph and looks every bit of a dominating presence on the mound. In the short time after the Cubs picked him up last year, you could see what they were hoping he would turn into full-time in 2025; a power arm capable of throwing multiple innings and helping to shorten games. In his first 26 innings in Chicago, Pearson posted an encouraging 2.73 ERA, with an underlying 3.65 xFIP to make you think it wasn't entirely smoke and mirrors. This year's version of Pearson has not looked like that pitcher. Instead, his strikeout rate has plummeted to just 10.6%. It's not a Stuff+ issue—his Stuff+ still sits at 107 for the year—but a command issue. Pearson just cannot throw strikes, and when he does, they're bad strikes. Compare, below, his 2025 pitch locations (top) to his 2024 locations (bottom). His fastball is center-cut and his slider is hanging. He just doesn't have it right now. The good news for the Cubs is that he is optionable. Send him to Iowa for a bit and figure out why he cannot bury the slider, It might not be a massive fix, but the Cubs cannot keep letting him go out and struggle. The next bit of good news for the Cubs is that they have a ready-made replacement for Pearson; Daniel Palencia. Palencia is a similar version of "stuff-over-location" to what Pearson is, but Palencia is dominating for Iowa. Rocking an absurd 40% strikeout rate, a sub-12% walk rate, he looks absolutely on point. His Statcast page from Iowa, is gaudy. Even if you're not entirely convinced Palencia is going to be capable of maintaining this level of strike-throwing at the big-league level, he's a version of Pearson who currently looks "right". Swap the two and let the struggler go work on his mechanics, while the other can ride a wave of confidence into the Craig Counsell circle of trust. Step 2: Eli Morgan to the IL. Bring up a second left-handed option. Should it be Luke Little, Riley Martin, or Tom Cosgrove? Eli Morgan blew up again last night, surrendering multiple home runs. This is a major red flag for someone like Morgan, whose calling card is that he limits hard damage. Counsell seemed to confirm those fears postgame, suggesting that Morgan has been dealing with some elbow soreness and that one roster move would need to be made. I suspect that move will be a swap of Morgan for the previously mentioned Palencia, but because I've gone ahead and already made that move, I'd suggest the Cubs go with a second one, and bring up a second left-handed option. The Cubs' only current southpaw reliever is Caleb Thielbar. The 38-year-old is coming off a rough 2024, and so far, his results have not been strong. Sporting an ERA over 7.00 and walking one out of every five hitters faced, it's clear that there are some struggles. For the lefty, there are also some encouraging signs; Stuff+ has him sitting at 111 for the year, his xERA is 3.05, and he's done a good job of avoiding the "heart" of the plate (especially with the fastball) while hitting the "shadow" (the outer portions) of the zone. With that said, it's time to give Counsell a second lefty for those moments. Luke Little is probably the easiest pitcher to add. Already on the 40-man and with some MLB experience under his belt, he wouldn't require much roster movement if Morgan only requires a 15-day stint. Little had three great appearances to start the year, but struggled in his most recent inning, surrendering a home run, two total earned runs, walking two and striking out none. These things happen, but you wish it didn't happen just a few days ago. Regardless, this is likely where I would go. The Cubs could go with three other choices, though none are perfect. Tom Cosgrove, recently snagged by way of San Diego, is a left-handed option who could slot in as the "left-handed Eli Morgan". When he's right, Cosgrove uses a funky arm angle to limit hard-hit balls. Sadly for the Cubs, Cosgrove hasn't been right since 2023, and hasn't looked great in even at Triple A. Riley Martin is another left-handed option at Iowa. Martin has all the right stuff, a big looping curveball, a fastball that's just good enough, and a pretty impressive ability to consistently get strikeouts at any level. The issue here is twofold: the walks are worse than Little while the overall stuff is less, and he's not on the 40-man. I still think Martin will get a cup of coffee in Chicago sometime this year. I just wouldn't do it now. A final choice could be Jordan Wicks. Wicks is different than the previous three options, in that his strength is that he can provide length. While the Cubs would probably like to keep him stretched out in Iowa in case of another starter injury, he could slot into the Colin Rea role that was recently vacated: bullpen length arm. As a lefty, he could realistically come in and get an inning if you wanted, but he could also be used to piggyback with Rea. While this is an interesting option, Wicks's calling card is his changeup, and relievers tend not to focus on a fastball-changeup combo on short stints. Plus, I like having a ready-to-go starter if you need them in Iowa, and with Javier Assad still working his way back, Wicks is that primary option. In the end, I don't think Palencia and Little (or another lefty) fix everything, but if both could provide some stability and give the team options, they could start to get out of this bullpen funk. Closer Ryan Pressly looked strong in his last outing, Porter Hodge is great, Brad Keller is showing that he's useful, while both Julian Merryweather and Ethan Roberts are quickly becoming trustworthy. Tyson Miller is close to a return to the roster. Rounding the bullpen out with two more decent options could begin to fill in the cracks and stop the leaking in the 6th and 7th innings, allowing the Cubs to bridge from their solid starters' efforts to their 8th and 9th inning guys. Which players in Iowa do you think could help the Cubs bullpen? Would you look to promote Cade Horton? How about Jordan Wicks? Is there another arm you like? Let us know in the comments below View full article

The walk rates aren't horrible and remember, it's under 5 innings. And he's getting tons of chase and whiff in zone. But the fastball velo below that of what it was last year is making me wonder if he's just capable right now of being too good for Triple-A hitters. If that was Jack Neeley's statcast data, I'd scream to call him up. But Thompson who has plenty of MLB experience? It makes me question it more. A lot of this is SSS. It's why that FB velo might be the most important thing on the list.

The fastball velo still hasn't come back, so I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this - there's really just a good chance that what I'm about to post is due to Thompson's age and multi-time-repeater status of being in Triple-A. But... Here is his statcast data from Triple-A last year: I'm not entirely sure that I would trust him, but the breaking pitch is grading out (in SSS extreme) better and the command in the zone seems to be better. He could be an option, but the more I think about it, the more I do think it's an age thing more so than improvement.

Sounds like Taillon was under the weather last night and why he was pulled when he was.

Ah yeah, we do. Good call! Ignore my inability to count- I'd still give preference to Little. Little's more of a walk machine (though Hughes hasn't been great) but I think offers the greatest difference to Thielbar. Hughes is a bit more like-for-like there, and he's got walk issues of his own. That said, outside of his first inning, has been pretty solid.

Hughes isn't on the 40-man, so my guess would be Palencia and Little unless Morgan needs a 60-man IL slot.

Usually I'm pretty forgiving but I am 100% done with Nate Pearson. Hes been awful.

Justin Turner had a 117 wRC+ last year, and a 116 wRC+ against RHP. Entering tonight, while the statline isn't great, he's under performing his xData, and his xwOBA is .326. That suggests hes hitting it much better than the results are. As well, he helps break up Tucker/Busch to protect from a LHP later. It's a justified position.

So, not really. I'm on mobile, so forgive me, I'm unable to back it up with heat maps (you'll have to check FG to verify), but hes hitting the outside pitch. In fact, it's his best average spot. I recently wrote an article on this, and double checked...still the same. My best feeling is that hes just not seeing it well right now. He's missing because he's all upstairs. He's guessing pitches and the instincts aren't taking over. He's processing slowly right now. It's rookie horsefeathers, and its probably a speed bump hes going to have to get through. On top of a jump from Triple-A to MLB, its been a jump to Cease, Yamamoto (x2), Gallen, Severino...like these are good arms. I also just checked his called strike heatmap when hes *ahead* in the count. It's inside pitches. He should be hitting those, and that's where he's watching. That tells me it's someone who isn't confident right now. Pribably why he's walking so much - he's just too slow mentally right now. It feels liKe Michael Busch early last year. He just felt a moment behind everything for a while. I think its patience that will carry the day.

Same lineup as last night, except for Amaya in for Kelly. No Suzuki yet.

Yeah the contact rates on both aren't super sparkling, though I'm kind of chalking those up to kind of SSS stuff as it usually takes more than ~a week of PAs to get to a stabilized version of the numbers. There are different opinions on when it stabilizes, but ~100 PA's is usually around the number that people point to. Both are well shy of that, so I'm hoping that the K-rate is the closer-to-truth-number (while recognizing it can be the other way around, but I like to live a glass-half-full-life, so I'm going with the fun one)

Last week marked the first time in 2025 all four affiliates played games. This week gave us our first full slate of games. Which players have gotten off to a good start? Who's struggling? Image courtesy of © MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images We're on our second week of 2025, which means our second week of "Hot or Not?" If you're looking for recaps of each game in depth, we give deep dives for each team bi-weekly designed to give as more in depth view of each game. You can view the most recent recap, from @Billy Reich here. Hot or Not is not designed to be comprehensive, but to provide a quick overview of some notable performances. So, who was hot this week? Who is struggling? Who might be next up to Chicago? Overall Temperature of the Week: This was a good week for most of the Cubs' affiliates! Three of the four affiliates finished with winning records (uhe Low-A Pelicans were the outlier), and many of the Cubs' best players had good weeks. There were a few players who have gone down with injuries. Drew Gray has been added to the 60-day IL, and after rolling his ankle last Sunday, Owen Caissie did not play. Outside of the injuries, though, this week in general gets a hot rating. Iowa Cubs, Triple-A (4-2) Next up - vs St. Paul Saints (Minnesota Twins) 🔥Jordan Wicks, SP: 3 IP, 5 K, 0 BB, 0 R, 0 ER - Wicks originally was slated to take a turn in the rotation mid-week, but with the Justin Steele injury news, he was pushed back into a piggyback role on Sunday (likely waiting to see if the Cubs would turn to Wicks or Colin Rea at the big-league level). Wicks looked great on the day in his three innings, arguably his best appearance since the injury last season. With Rea looking solid on Sunday, could we see Wicks come up to play the long man role and add another lefty in the pen? Or maybe he'd serve as a piggyback partner to someone? 🔥Kevin Alcántara, OF: 168 wRC+, 30 K%, 25 BB%, 1 XBH - That's a really nice week for "The Jaguar". The strikeouts remain a little inflated, but the hope is that as he settles into Iowa, the whiffs will smooth out. We're still waiting on the power to really emerge, but as the de facto backup to all of three outfield spots, Alcántara staying hot in Iowa is good news. 🔥Christian Franklin, OF: 164 wRC+, 20.8 K%, 16.7 BB%, 1 HR. 3 XBH - I think I've slept on Franklin too much. I refuse to do that any longer, and now declare it Christian Franklin Season. Franklin has done almost everything you could want. He hits at every level; he takes his walks; he can hack it defensively across the outfield; he's played SEC baseball. There's a dude here. I'm not 100% convinced it's a starting dude, but Franklin has a good chance of carving out a Mike Tauchman-style career as a really good fourth outfielder. 🥶Ben Cowles, INF 41 wRC+, 40 K%< 8 BB%, 2 XBH - Cowles had started off really hitting the hell out of the baseball, but his contact rates and strikeout rates have climbed steeply. I'm not entirely faulting him—he missed a lot of time last year and he's at a new level. It's probably just best to temper any excitement on him until a bit later. Knoxville Smokies, Double-A (4-2) Next up - vs Chattanooga Outlooks (Cincinnati Reds) 🔥BJ Murray, 1b/3b: 199 wRC+, 31.8 K%, 22.7 BB%, 2 HR - This was a much better week for the infielder. Murray was able to go deep twice, and really, he should make quick work of Knoxville if he wants to get back on a potential big-league path. He's got plenty of competition ahead of him with Johnathon Long in Iowa, but it wouldn't be impossible for him to become relevant again by the end of the year. 🔥Brett Bateman, OF: 220 wRC+, 21.4 K%, 42.9 BB% - I'm still a bit skeptical that Bateman has enough oomph in his profile to ever be put squarely on the majors' radar, but walking this much and having enough speed and defensive value can you get there. Bateman missed the first week of the season coming back from injury and he looks keyed-in and ready to go in Knoxville. When the Cubs begin moving Alcántara and Franklin to Chicago, Bateman will be among the wave of players to replace them in Iowa. 🥶Ed Howard, SS - 90wRC+, 40 K%, 13.3 BB%, 1 XBH: The good news is that Ed Howard has been promoted to Knoxville and has started his season with what would be his career-best offensive numbers. The bad news is that an 83 wRC+ would be a high-water mark. Howard isn't so old that he's entirely beyond hope to ever get back to being on a path to MLB, but he's off the radar currently. I know many fans like to dunk on the former top pick, but I keep checking in on him during his games, hoping for it to click. South Bend Cubs, High-A (4-2) Next up - @ West Michigan Whitecaps (Detroit) 🔥Cristian Hernandez, INF - 261 wRC+, 12,9 K%, 11.5 BB%, 1 HR, 5 XBH - There isn't a Cub prospect who's gotten off to a better start than Hernandez. Many were left with a sour taste in their mouths after his first season in Myrtle Beach, but the former international free-agent gem has been crushing the baseball. He only turned 21 a few months ago, so while it feels like he's been around for a while, he's very young. He's controlling the barrel really well and is finally showing off some of the power that was promised. There's a good chance he's a quick riser this year. 🔥Ivan Brethowr, OF - 259 wRC+, 15 K%, 20 BB%, 1 HR, 2 XBH: As a former college player, you could probably expect Brethowr to play well at High A. What stands out, however, is his lack of strikeouts so far. He's only 22 years old, so while he's a former collegiate bat, he's someone who's still got plenty of youth on his side. I wrote about the huge outfielder earlier this offseason when I spoke about some mechanical changes in his game, and it's great to think that the mechanical changes may be part of why he's started so well. 🥶Edgar Alvarez, 1b/DH - 0 wRC+, 30.8 K%, 30.8 BB%: Alvarez, like the aforementioned Brethowr, is someone who is a recent draftee from the 2024 class. Alvarez came out of school with dazzling batted-ball data, but so far, he's struggled to turn that into pro success. It's super early, so there's no writing him off, but it'd be nice to see him make some more contact and have some positive outcomes. 🥶Burl Carroway, RP - 1.1 IP, 1 K, 5 BB, 1 R, 1` ER: I probably won't mention him very often, but former second-round selection Burl Carroway reappeared in South Bend this year and the results are... basically the same. Carroway just cannot throw strikes, and at age 25, it doesn't feel like he'll randomly learn it. A small, faint, glimmer of hope was there for the lefty with the addition of Tyler Zombro and a new pitching infrastructure being implemented, but as of now, it doesn't look like it's fixed anything for him. Myrtle Beach Pelicans, Low-A (1-5) Next up - Augusta Green Jackets (Atlanta Braves) 🥶Cole Mathis, 1b/3b/DH - 25 wRC+, 33.3 K%, 4.2 BB%, 2 XBH: Not a great week for the Cubs' 2025 second-round pick. Mathis is struggling to get his feet under him. No cause for panic, just normal early-season struggles, especially for a player coming back from injury. Hopefully, he'll have a big week and put this one behind him. 🥶Alexey Lumpuy, OF - 33 wRC+, 38.5 K%, 11.5 BB%: O, how fickle prospects can be. After getting off to a nice start (and being featured as "hot" last week), Lumpuy struggled in his second week. He's very young, and Myrtle Beach is hardly a fun place to hit, so we should expect those weeks to happen. Hopefully, the tools show out a bit more next week. 🔥Evan Aschenbeck, P - 5 IP, 6 K, 3 BB, 0 R, 0 ER: Based on the record, you may have guessed the Pelicans' pitching staff struggled, but that would be a bit of an understatement; the team surrendered eight or more runs four times this week. In a sea of struggles, Aschenback, the Cubs' 14th-round pick out of Texas A&M was a gem, however, as he came on in relief and pitched really well. Keep an eye on him as we move forward, to see if it's more of a blip or a trend. 🥶JP Wheat, SP - 4.1 IP, 4 K, 5 BB, 3 R, 3 ER: Command was not on point for JP Wheat this week. That's okay, he's likely to struggle in this category at times. With a live arm and a lanky build, mechanical consistency can come and go at times. Stuff was still there, so it's hopefully more "hiccup" than anything. 🔥Nazier Mule, SP - 5 IP, 5K, 2 BB, 0 R, 0 ER: Nazier Mule looked great, and turned in his best performance as a prospect. Making it five innings was great and helps to show he's over the arm surgery from the start of his Cub career. Even better was the control, as Mule had command over his pitches. On draft day there was some thought he could pull a Tink Hence - both in terms of stature and stuff - where he could really come on quick and this kind of start makes you see that as a possibility. Long way to go, but awesome start. That concludes our Hot or Not this week. Who did I miss? Was there a player you think had a good week? Maybe someone who struggled? Let us know in the comment section below! View full article

That might work if either looked super in form. Between the two of them, they have four appearances, none of which has lasted through four full innings, only one of which the full stat line qualifies as "good". Neither are particularly ready now. Especially during gauntlet month. I love Cade Horton but he's struggled to make it 50 pitches against the Toledo Mud Hens. Jumping to the Dodgers as the final boss battle in a cold Wrigley probably not a great encore, ya know? And I say this as a very strong Horton supporter! It's something to perhaps approach later, but I see little reason to rush them currently. Let them build up consistency and strength for at least a few more goes.

BA Mock 2.0 dropped. They have the Cubs going with Luke Stevenson, C, UNC I'm not fully sold that the Cubs would go Stevenson. There are some things that seem to check out - he plays up the middle (SS/2b/C/CF) which many of their picks at the top tend to play. He's a collegiate hitter, which has been a hallmark of Dan Kantrovitz picks since he's coupled with the Cubs. He has some pretty solid batted ball data, too. Probably the best college hitter at the position in the draft. Where I am a little unclear of how the Cubs would view him is two fold - there's whiff in the profile. The Cubs tend to shy away from hitters with whiff questions. As well, Stevenson has not played in the Cape league - the Cubs tend to favor wood-bat performers. That may not immediately disqualify him from the Cubs boards, but things to note, at least.

I would not move up the timeline on the Triple-A arms in the rotation. That sounds like a short-term fix that ends poorly. Jordan Wicks and Cade Horton are probably the two best arms in Iowa, but both are coming off heavily injury shortened seasons and neither have had a perfect start to the year: - Cade Horton has struggled to get over the 50 pitch hump. He's struggled for consistency. The stuff is there, but he's almost assuredly not ready for a bit - Jordan Wicks is probably further ahead, but I'm not entirely sure I'd move his timeline up yet unless it's in a piggyback role. His first start was not great, and Colin Rea looked pretty good. I think letting him marinate, get into a rhythm and being on high alert for an injury is how I'd handle it.

He had offseason core surgery. He ended up missing time during ST camp (almost all of it). Likely to do with that.

W. Series win. On the road. In LAD.

His PA's can be pretty ugly. He had a nice walk that got called a strike-three and his single was on a two strike count. Both were fine. Two strikeouts? Not so pretty. He's very up and down.

In Shaw's defense, one of his strikeouts was a walk tonight and he has a hit. That said, ****** PA. One of those ground balls would have been nice there.

He's kind of fast. IDK.

Big hit Nico! Alright!