Ivy League Cubs

By: Jake Russell

Today, the Cubs made a flurry of bullpen moves before their 5:40 PM start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The first one announced was Julian Merryweather headed to the 15-Day IL. The corresponding move is old friend Keegan Thompson up from AAA Iowa.

The second is another old friend called up, Daniel Palencia, for Jack Neely, who heads back down to AAA after a brief, but rough MLB stint.

I can’t say that Merryweather to the IL is shocking in the slightest. The usually flamethrowing righty topped out at just 94.5 MPH during his last outing against the Marlins, and has an ERA above 8 since returning from the Injured List. He’s struggled to get strikeouts as well–he’s struck out just 15.1% of batters in that timeframe. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery from Merryweather.

Keegan Thompson gets the recall, who has, for lack of a better term, been on a heater since coming off the IL and being optioned to AAA. In 13 innings since July 26th, Thompson has 18 strikeouts, just 3 walks, and a 1.38 ERA. Keegan is a guy who throws the kitchen sink, so to speak, and has been very effective with what is essentially a 5-pitch mix out of the bullpen in AAA. That, with plus command, should help Keegan to continue to be a trusted arm out of the Cubs bullpen.

Jack Neely, who was acquired for Mark Leiter Jr. at the trade deadline, has been sent down to AAA. Neely is 6 ‘8 and wields two plus pitches, but struggled with command at times during his short stint in the majors. He’ll be a potential September call up at some point down the stretch.

Finally, probably the most exciting relief pitcher in the Cubs system at the moment, Daniel Palencia was recalled from AAA. Palencia topped out at 102.5 in August (and averaged 100 MPH on the dot). Palencia’s movement profile has also looked improved–he is averaging nearly 17 inches of Induced Vertical Break on his fastball, which is roughly an inch more than his average in MLB games this year (the velocity is 2.4 MPH harder). He has also been mixing in more splitters, a pitch that sits under 10 inches of horizontal movement–it could be classified a gyro(ish?) splitter.

I am excited to see Palencia get MLB opportunities again. He has been dealing down at Iowa recently, and definitely deserves another shot, as does Keegan. Both have assumed high-leverage roles at some point during this season or last, and they could both be high-leverage arms again, on a team that is currently kind of starved for them. 

Picture Credit: Jeff Roberson, Associated Press