Jason Ross

Ballesteros is not on a WBC roster.

Just to add: Trevor Bauer was shipped to the minor leagues of Japanese baseball last year at one point because he was getting knocked around so often.

Friday the 13th, man.

Image courtesy of © Mark Hoffman-USAToday Network via Imagn Images A few days after pitchers and catchers reported to camp, the Chicago Cubs agreed to a multi-year contract with right-handed pitcher Shelby Miller. This will be Miller's second stint with the Cubs organization, though it will undoubtedly be longer than his cup of coffee with the team in 2021 where he totaled just two innings. Miller has reinvented himself between now, then, and when he (eventually) takes the mound at Wrigley again. Miller was forced to change after 2022. Between 2016 and that season, the former first-round pick battled injuries and ineffectiveness and had been dropped from MLB rotations as a whole. Facing a future where it appeared he would only be MLB depth, toiling away in Triple-A, the hurler underwent some changes in arsenal and arm slot. When the Cubs last saw Miller in their organization, he threw more overhand and featured a fastball-sweeper mix with some cutters thrown in for good measure. His four-seam fastball sat a touch under 94 mph, which was fine for the time, but not a particularly overpowering offering. He struggled to strike hitters out with a K-rate under 13%, and was knocked around to the tune of an ERA over nine during the 2021 season. But that was then, and this is now. 3f8d21c6-5c66799f-47dc5b50-csvm-diamondgcp-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 The Cubs are hoping that they're signing a version that looks much more like the guy Miller turned into during the 2023 season and beyond. Featuring an arm angle that has dipped over six degrees, Miller is a different beast. The velocity has ticked up, now sitting over 95mph. Coupled with the lower arm slot, the pitch now features more arm-side run. Combined with his new fastball shape is a fun little split-finger that has become the bane of hitters' existences: last year, it sported a batting average against of just .135. Hitters are no longer teeing off Miller; now, they're striking out at a 29% rate (at least, they did in 2025). The reason he has increased his effectiveness is in how these two pitches play off of each other. They have similar induced spin patterns, but offer distinct observed motion (pictured above). This is due to seam-shifted wake, essentially, playing with the grip of the baseball to create added deception. They also work well in terms of location; Miller throws the fastball up while the split finger falls off the table (pictured below). These two pitches make life incredibly difficult for hitters, much more so than Miller's fastball-sweeper combination. Those pitches offered enough distinction on plane for hitters to easily determine what was coming. Now, with seam-shifted wake characteristics creating deception in spin, as well as the pitches working in tandem on the same vertical plane, Miller seems to have finally found the best version of himself. The split-finger is also an important weapon in attacking opposite-handed hitters. The 35-year-old limited left-handed batters to a .233 wOBA last year and just a .139 batting average against. Over his career, Miller has struggled against LHH, so adding a pitch designed specifically to get those kinds of hitters outs helped create such impressive splits. In many ways, Miller has turned into a better version of what Mark Leiter Jr. was with the Cubs — a right-handed pitcher who is particularly useful against lefties. If you're asking yourself "How did the Cubs find such a useful reliever this late into the offseason?", the answer is because Shelby Miller is slated to miss most, if not all, of the upcoming season due to Tommy John surgery. Because this is a multi-year contract, this is less of a signing for 2026, but an upside play for 2027. This will allow the Cubs to monitor the rehab process and bring him along within the organization. If it works out, this deal ensures they have a useful bullpen option heading into next year. There's certainly a chance that when he does return to the mound that he's a shell of himself, but with how far TJ-surgery recovery has come, there's a good chance he'll be able to bounce back just fine. This might not change the outlook of the 2026 season, but represents a smart flier for the future. How do you grade the Shelby Miller addition? Are you excited? Do you think this will work out for the Cubs? Let us know in the comments below! View full article

Jaxon Jelkin was killer for Kentucky today. Struck out 10, walked none, in just 4 innings. Fastball was hitting 96mph from a low slot. Kid has had all sorts of arm issues but had TJS and is fresh off it. Name I'm going to follow through the year; he looked legit today.

Don't think so. Miller is strictly a reliever and someone who isn't going to pitch much in 2026 if at all. FWIW, Levine remains beating that drum, suggesting some insiders think the Cubs are the team to beat on Gallen.

Cubs signed Shelby Miller. Multiyears

This is purely speculation, but based on the how the reporting around Ballesteros has been "the Cubs don't want to move him" (last deadline) and how willingly they were seemingly okay moving Caissie (last year for Luzardo and then this year for Cabrera) than I don't think the Cubs have made any sort of long term determination on his defensive future. I think a group of fans have made final determinations because he's awkwardly shaped. I don't believe the team has. It very well may end up with him just never making it even as a fringe catcher, but internally, I highly doubt that the Cubs have come up with the opinion that the discussion is done and dusted.

Bummer. But fine by me.

Most of these projections aren't entirely publicly available, but my guess is that they really aren't baking that in, but trying to equate Triple-A data to MLB, which is just really hard to do. Again, not saying they're worthless, but just that they're kind of low on everyone who initially comes up, so Mo being in that 100-105 range isn't super worrisome to me. Just about everyone top prospect is around that 95-110 range regardless.

To be fair, most of the projections for all top-prospects are really low. Sal Stewart is hovering around 105-110 range in most, Samuel Basallo is around the same spot as Ballesteros, and Carson Benge is well below. Projection systems are a little tricky when it comes to understanding MiLB to MLB and usually are on the very conservative side. You're going to find this most of the time. I'm pretty tepid on projection systems for rookies. Not to say we shouldn't use them, but that they're always kind of low on 'em.

Castellanos is terrible. He had a 90 wRC+ last year and over his last 2,500 PA's is at a 100 wRC+. League DH last year were a 115 wRC+.

Just to add fuel to the fire, Tyler Zombro had already been following Zac Gallen on socials. The Cubs "Scout of the Year" just added Gallen as well.

Incredibly. The pitches don't distinguish themselves via velocity but do have distinct movement differences. This creates a very difficult decision point for a hitter; with a larger velocity gap it would help create an easier way to identify the pitch. The changeup has much more vertical drop and runs more arm side than the fastball. This both increases whiff% as well as better batted ball data.

Probably more so now that Zombro will be a heavy influence in the draft process.

We don't run out ground balls much any more. Either the dad at 2b is going to boot that ball and I'll have all day, or he's going to toss me.

Same for my adult baseball league. And less "dogging it" but more "I don't need everyone to see data on what a 38-year old looks like on that level" I'm barely holding it together at this point.

They monitor athletes during performance. Speed, direction, how hard they are working, etc. Just tracking extra data. Soccer players wear them a lot.

Projected starting 1b for team Great Britain to boot.

I'm all for Gallen. But it has to be a multi-year deal. It sounds like the Cubs would move Taillon in that case per Sharma and Mooney. The benefit of Gallen is both that he's better but also that he'd be there for 2027. I think only one team would consider going one year, and it's Arizona because they won't lose the draft pick (they'd just not receive one). If I were Gallen I wouldn't sign that, however. You can hit FA quicker, but I don't think Arizona is really capable of fixing him.

There's more to it than that. There's a lot of factors. First, he's attached to a QO. Secondly, how much does he improve the rotation? You can't just sign him to a one-year contract, pay a second round pick for a small increase. Everything has to make sense. That isn't to say a 1-year contract couldn't work out, but it's not as simple as "well I think we can improve him so whatever contract". If the Cubs behaved like a team, year-in-and-year-out that didn't care about this stuff we could have a different discussion. But I think this goes beyond "if" it simply makes the rotation better. It has to make it better in the magnitude that also accepts the loss of a QO for one year if that's the case.

His second half was more of a mechanical issue than anything else. He got too out front of the baseball, causing him either to crush the ball a bit foul or jam himself when he let the ball travel further. His point of contact got too far in front of the plate and his front foot a little long. With bat tracking data we can begin to determine issues. I wouldn't chalk it up to either variance or a concerning trend; players get out of mechanical sync from time to time. PCA has always been willing to work with his mechanics so I'm not concerned from that aspect. It wasn't just bad luck his mechanics got off, but it's not really a trend we should super worry about as like, the new norm. Very fixable and he's always worked on tweaking that aspect of his game. If there was a positive, his strikeout rate dipped second half. Instead I think we have to accept PCA is likely a streaky hitter who works on vibes and emotions and that's just kind of who he is. He will have times where he can simply carry a team and others where he's going to get off and struggle for a long stretch.

An important update from a former Cub: