The Cubs made a trade today sending catcher Welington Castillo to the Seattle Mariners for reliever Yoervis Medina. Castillo had long been the subject of trade rumors dating back to when the Cubs signed David Ross to a 2-year contract back in December.
Castillo, 27, hit .163/.234/.349 with a .172 BABIP in only 47 plate appearances. His playing time had been limited due to Montero-Ross being the Cubs primary catchers and while his pitch framing had improved significantly from last year (albeit a small sample size) he simply was the odd man out.
Medina, 26, is coming off a pair of excellent seasons with the Mariners where he posted a combined 2.81 ERA in 129 appearances and 125 innings pitched. He is off to a decent start in 2015 with a 3.00 ERA in 12 appearances although a 5.37 xFIP tells a different tale. His biggest issue has been his control with a 5.25 BB/9 so far this year and his strikeouts have been down at 6.75.
The move is a good one for the Cubs as they already had enough major-league depth at catcher and they needed bullpen depth to have options in case the Cubs ran into a situation in which the bullpen is gassed, although I think this is more than just depth because if Medina can figure out his control he could end up being a solid piece in the Cubs pen.
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
Cubs DFA Coke, option Schlitter
The Cubs made a few moves during todays off day designating Phil Coke for assignment, optioning Brian Schlitter to AAA Iowa, and recalling Tsuyoshi Wada and Junior Lake from Iowa.
Phil Coke, 32, was signed by the Cubs to a minor league deal at the beginning of Spring Training and made the roster, but struggled posting a 6.30 ERA. His BABIP was way inflated at .406 and that made his FIP 3.55 and xFIP 2.95, which are very good indicators that he had been getting unlucky.
Schlitter, 29, struggled as well posting a 8.10 ERA in 9 appearances but a .400 BABIP and a 6.75 FIP and 3.95 xFIP suggests that he was going through some bad luck.
Wada, 34, is making his first appearance of the year after starting the year on the disabled list with a groin injury. He had a fantastic rookie year for the Cubs last year with a 3.25 ERA in 13 starts and 69.1 innings pitched.
Lake, 25, has received 14 plate appearances this year for the Cubs going 4-14 with a double and a steal. He has spent the majority of his time in AAA Iowa with a .250/.353/.291 slash line in 85 plate appearances and a 26% strikeout rate and a 14% walk rate.
The Cubs 40-man roster stands at 38.
Phil Coke, 32, was signed by the Cubs to a minor league deal at the beginning of Spring Training and made the roster, but struggled posting a 6.30 ERA. His BABIP was way inflated at .406 and that made his FIP 3.55 and xFIP 2.95, which are very good indicators that he had been getting unlucky.
Schlitter, 29, struggled as well posting a 8.10 ERA in 9 appearances but a .400 BABIP and a 6.75 FIP and 3.95 xFIP suggests that he was going through some bad luck.
Wada, 34, is making his first appearance of the year after starting the year on the disabled list with a groin injury. He had a fantastic rookie year for the Cubs last year with a 3.25 ERA in 13 starts and 69.1 innings pitched.
Lake, 25, has received 14 plate appearances this year for the Cubs going 4-14 with a double and a steal. He has spent the majority of his time in AAA Iowa with a .250/.353/.291 slash line in 85 plate appearances and a 26% strikeout rate and a 14% walk rate.
The Cubs 40-man roster stands at 38.
The Cubs need a bench bat and fast
Coming into todays off day the Cubs are in second place in the NL Central with a 21-16 record just 4 games behind the pesky Cardinals. But there is one glaring issue on their roster, the bench,
The Cubs roster makeup is currently 14 pitchers and 11 position players, yes the bullpen is gassed but that only gives the Cubs room for 3 bench-players, 2 of whom are catchers. The current bench ( David Ross, Welington Castillo, and Jonathan Herrera) is a combined 2-26 with 4 walks and 9 strikeouts. Overall Cubs pinch-hitters are hitting .143/.250/.222 and a tOPS+ of 33, but a BABIP of .190 suggests that luck is having a slight affect on the stats.
The most notable affect is the lack of pinch-runners, if the Cubs go to the ninth in a close game and one of the slower members of the team reaches base there really isn't any options to go to off the bench.
The Cubs should really consider going back to 13 pitchers now that Travis Wood has been moved to the bullpen and him and Edwin Jackson could be considered long-relievers now and Joe Maddon has stated he isn't afraid to use Wood in other situations as well.
For the extra bench player they should recall outfielder Matt Szczur who, despite a .172/.242/.241 split has shown good speed and defense in the outfield.
The Cubs roster makeup is currently 14 pitchers and 11 position players, yes the bullpen is gassed but that only gives the Cubs room for 3 bench-players, 2 of whom are catchers. The current bench ( David Ross, Welington Castillo, and Jonathan Herrera) is a combined 2-26 with 4 walks and 9 strikeouts. Overall Cubs pinch-hitters are hitting .143/.250/.222 and a tOPS+ of 33, but a BABIP of .190 suggests that luck is having a slight affect on the stats.
The most notable affect is the lack of pinch-runners, if the Cubs go to the ninth in a close game and one of the slower members of the team reaches base there really isn't any options to go to off the bench.
The Cubs should really consider going back to 13 pitchers now that Travis Wood has been moved to the bullpen and him and Edwin Jackson could be considered long-relievers now and Joe Maddon has stated he isn't afraid to use Wood in other situations as well.
For the extra bench player they should recall outfielder Matt Szczur who, despite a .172/.242/.241 split has shown good speed and defense in the outfield.
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