TODAY: Proper-hander Colten Brewer is being positioned on the 60-day injured record with a left hand fracture after punching a wall in frustration following his outing towards the Angels yesterday, in line with Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. The transfer clears house on the membership’s 40-man and energetic rosters for the promotion of Bigge. Brewer, 31, has a 5.66 ERA in 20 2/3 innings with the Cubs this yr regardless of a strong 3.12 FIP and a 23.2% strikeout fee.
July 6: The Cubs are poised to pick the contract of right-hander Hunter Bigge, in line with a report from MLB Community’s Jon Morosi. Chicago might want to make corresponding strikes to clear house on each the energetic and 40-man rosters to accommodate Bigge’s choice previous to tomorrow’s sport towards the Angels.
Bigge, 26, was a Twelfth-round decide by the Cubs within the 2019 draft out of Harvard. He impressed in 16 innings of labor between the rookie and Low-A ranges of the minors the yr he was drafted with a 1.13 ERA and a 34.4% strikeout fee in that cameo, however his developmental trajectory was thrown off beam considerably by the cancelled minor league season in 2020. The righty was assigned to the Excessive-A stage when minor league play resumed in 2021 however struggled with that project, posting a 5.66 ERA in 17 1/3 innings, and he struggled equally in a 2022 marketing campaign break up between the Excessive-A and Double-A ranges.
Luckily for Bigge, he began to show issues again round in Double-A final yr. The fitting-hander posted a strong 3.50 ERA in 43 2/3 innings of multi-inning reduction work on the stage in the course of the 2023 marketing campaign, and he backed these numbers up with robust peripherals. His 28.8% strikeout fee was spectacular and whereas his 11.4% stroll fee was definitely elevated, he helped to make up for it by producing grounders at a powerful 44.7% clip and permitting simply three dwelling runs. The 25-year-old’s efficiency was sufficient to earn him a call-up to the Triple-A stage late final yr, though he struggled badly in that project with an unpleasant 8.71 ERA in 10 1/3 innings that noticed him permit extra walks (13) than strikeouts (12).
Bigge’s return to Triple-A was slowed this yr by an indirect harm that has value him a lot of the season up to now, however after returning to the extent on June 4 he’s achieved nothing however dominate. In 11 2/3 innings of labor on the highest stage of the minors this yr, the righty has allowed only one run on a solo homer whereas placing out 44.2% of opponents. Walks are nonetheless a priority for Bigge, who has allowed free passes to 14% of opponents this yr, however the Cubs clearly imagine the 26-year-old is prepared for his first style of massive league motion and need to see how his high-octane arsenal led by an upper-90s fastball will play within the main leagues.
The bullpen has been one thing of an Achilles’ heel for the Cubs this yr as they’ve scuffled to a 41-49 document regardless of the eighth-best rotation in baseball by ERA. The membership’s high three leverage relievers from final season’s bullpen—Adbert Alzolay, Julian Merryweather, and Mark Leiter Jr.— are all presently on the injured record and have been joined by key offseason addition Yency Almonte. In the meantime, high offseason reduction signing Hector Neris has struggled badly with a 4.11 ERA and 5.02 FIP in 30 2/3 innings this yr, leaving the membership with only a few dependable reduction arms to lean on this yr. That’s led the membership to lean more and more closely on unproven children like Luke Little and Porter Hodge to hold the load within the majors, and now Bigge figures to get an identical alternative to show himself able to contributing to a giant league reduction corps low on high quality choices.