*****Official Cubs 2023 thread*****
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The silver lining to Killian's horrible performance is that he goes back down to the minors and given the organizational depth he either figures his s*** out, or he gets pushed aside.
The start was a bomb, but I was pretty pleased, actually, that he kept his composure during the first and battled back to almost clear 4 innings. He had movement on his breaking stuff in the last couple innings that he hasn’t had. I’m curious what they’ll do after today. They could option him back or, if they don’t think Taillon will be back for his next turn, keep him on the active roster for one more start.
Yep, I am kind of hoping for one more start. It would be great if he could have a taste of success before heading back to Des Moines.
Do you think they might bring Morel up soon? He had a helluva game yesterday hitting his 11th HR and driving in 7 from the lead off spot. Hitting .363 I think with 28 RBIs.
This is BS. I was told I needed Marquee to get every game. I'm listening on the Score.
I'm not even going to learn the new guy's name that came up. He won't be here long. Boyucky, or something like that.
He does strike out a lot in AAA, which isn't a good sign. No doubt he's raking though.
This is why I want Morel to spend a year at AAA. He needs to learn plate discipline.
I think we are 5-14 now covering the last 4 seasons. And, we get them again next weekend! Lol
Hard to say on Morel. All of his stats are great except he’s still striking out close to 30% of the time. That number is likely to go up in the bigs. They’ve been trying to keep the pressure off and let him develop, but at some point, the production is just going to push it up. Also, they SHOULDN’T bring him up unless he’s going to play 4x per week. If he’s going to get what Rios is getting, he’s better off staying in Iowa.
And Brown is on the 40-man roster already, so he’s absolutely in play for a spot start/injury fill-in/whatever.
The Score is reporting that Miguel Amaya left Tennessee to join the Cubs in DC. It’s not clear if Gomes will go on the IL due to being hit on the head during a backswing last night. But, they clearly want someone there in case Gomes has a concussion, and Amaya is the only catcher available on the 40 man roster.
From what I’ve seen (reported by Taylor McGregor, primarily), Gomes was NOT put in concussion protocol last night but would be re-evaluated today. It seems Amaya is moving as a precaution to start, but Gomes could still wind up in concussion protocol, which would be a 7-day IL stint. We’ll see…as noted Amaya is now the only other catcher on the 40-man.
Dude better figure it out; I'd hate to see yet another promising pitching prospect flame-out on us. He may need to go to the bullpen if he wants to ever make it at the MLB level.
I haven't seen either of these guys pitch this year, but Kay's numbers at Iowa sure are better than Borucki's, so I was surprised by this move (although Kay hasn't exactly been stellar, either).
It will be interesting to see what they do if Taillon is not ready to go by Thursday. I'm not sure how I feel about Brown coming up. They could easily option Rucker or Estrada to make room for him for a start or two, but I remember them bringing up Killian for a few starts last summer when he was red-hot in the minors....and he's never been the same since. But then again, there's not a whole lot of other possibilities, especially with adding Borucki to the 40-man. They could save Keegan until then and see if he could give 3-4 innings. They could bring up Jensen instead, who hasn't been as effective but is a few years older than Brown. I guess we'll just have to wait and see....
One thing that could be in play with Borucki is an opt-out on his contract. A lot of guys who sign non-roster invite deals for spring training have clauses giving them a chance to opt out for free agency if they’re not on the major-league roster by a particular date. I heard Roenis Elias opted out of his contract and is heading to Korea. This might be taking a shot with Borucki in lieu of him just walking away, but I don’t know that for a fact.
If Taillon can’t go Thursday, it won’t be Assad or Kilian unless there’s another injury somewhere - when you’re optioned down, you have to wait 15 days unless you get pulled up to replace another injured player. I wouldn’t expect him to stick, but bringing up Ben Brown would be very interesting just to give him the exposure and some experience.
I’m excited for Amaya - he’s been through so much. He’s not in today’s lineup, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get an AB or two tonight and then hopefully he’ll start tomorrow.
The Borucki DFA is interesting - seems to be a move made for a starter for Thursday’s game. If true, that means it won’t be Ben Brown starting Thursday since he’s on the 40 already. May well be Riley Thompson coming up from Iowa.
The Borucki DFA is interesting - seems to be a move made for a starter for Thursday’s game. If true, that means it won’t be Ben Brown starting Thursday since he’s on the 40 already. May well be Riley Thompson coming up from Iowa.
Welp, that was quick. Looks like that 40-man roster spot is open again, so the Cubs' Thursday starter possibilities just expanded quite a bit. I'd personally like to see Riley Thompson get his shot - he's older than Brown & Jensen, has been in the organization longer and has been solid at AAA this season. Riley has already survived the Rule 5 draft twice, so I'm thinking he'd clear waivers once it was time for him to be sent back down. If not, the Cubs could probably put together a trade - I think his long-term value with the Cubs is probably limited, anyway.
Edit - I would assume Riley would have options once his contract is selected. Wouldn't need to be DFA'd.
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He may clear waivers and be back.
As for Thursday, I’m now hearing more Nick Neidert than anyone else. If it’s him, its either because it’s his turn on normal rest or they think they’d have a better chance getting him back through waivers than Thompson.
