Jesse Johnson and Katie Stratman-Mimagn Photographs
The Cubs approached the commerce deadline with pitching as their high precedence. They traded for Michael Soroka on Wednesday to shore up the beginning rotation and added Andrew Kittredge to the bullpen later that night time. That didn’t cease them from making a commerce to enhance their hitters: Getting in on the Twins’ Thursday hearth sale, Chicago acquired utilityman Willi Castro for 2 pitching prospects, Ryan Gallagher and Sam Armstrong. And proper earlier than the buzzer, the Cubs additionally acquired left-handed reliever Taylor Rogers from the Pirates for outfield prospect Ivan Brethowr. This was the second swap Rogers was a part of inside a roughly 27-hour span, after he went from the Reds to the Pirates in Wednesday afternoon’s Ke’Bryan Hayes deal.
The Cubs have top-of-the-line lineups in baseball. They lead the majors in runs scored and the Nationwide League in wRC+. So that they didn’t essentially have to improve their offense earlier than the deadline. Castro’s calling card is his versatility, and that’s the first motive they acquired him. Simply this 12 months, he’s performed each place however catcher and first base. Defensively, he’s in all probability a bit in over his head at both of the premium up-the-middle positions — his profession FRV at shortstop is -3 and -2 in middle subject — however he’s completely acceptable as a second baseman (2 FRV) or in both outfield nook (5 in left, -2 in proper). In earlier years, he was additionally barely above common at third (2 FRV) earlier than taking a step again this season (-3), although small-sample caveats actually apply for his defensive metrics at any particular place due to how a lot he’s moved round. Solely as soon as has he logged greater than 500 innings at a person place in a season, and that was again in 2021 when he performed 713 2/3 innings at second base with the Tigers.
That stated, he’s far more than only a multi-positional backup. On the plate, Castro has been solidly above common since becoming a member of the Twins in 2023; throughout these first seasons in Minnesota, he posted a mixed 107 wRC+ and gathered 5.4 WAR. This season, his offensive manufacturing has been barely higher — .245/.335/.407, 109 wRC+ — than lately as a result of he’s tapping into his energy extra. He’s already smacked 10 house runs in 344 plate appearances after hitting a career-high 12 final 12 months throughout almost 300 extra journeys to the plate. That he’s a switch-hitter solely provides to his flexibility. He has been platoon impartial for his profession, however he’s hitting left-handed hurlers significantly better this 12 months (131 wRC+) than he has righties (100). Castro has been value 1.1 WAR this season, a step again from his final two years regardless of his offensive enhancements as a result of his defensive worth has declined. A few of this is because of a dip in his defensive metrics — his solely plus place this season by FRV is left subject — nevertheless it additionally has to do with the positional adjustment, as he’s spent extra innings this season at positions additional down the defensive spectrum; after enjoying 465 2/3 innings at shortstop in 2024 and one other 211 1/3 in middle subject, he’s logged simply 26 at shortstop this 12 months to go together with a one-inning cameo in middle.
Castro will attain free company for the primary time in his profession on the finish of this season, that means he was all the time prone to be moved as quickly when the Twins determined to promote. His identify had been linked to a lot of groups over the previous few weeks, with the Mariners, Yankees, and Astros all displaying curiosity as nicely. That the Cubs in the end landed him comes as considerably of a shock. Jon Bertithe opposite utilityman on Chicago’s roster, has made simply 5 begins since Might 19, the day the Cubs recalled third baseman Matt Shaw from Triple-A. On the very least, the Cubs are getting a significantly better model of Berti to be a dependable depth piece. Nonetheless, with the Twins, Castro was almost an on a regular basis participant. Ideally, the Cubs received’t have to lean on him as a lot as Minnesota did, as they’ve established starters at each place. What Castro represents, then, is a chance for the Cubs to maintain their starters recent down the stretch. He might nonetheless find yourself enjoying often in a Ben Zobrist-type function, however barring damage, he nearly actually isn’t going to supplant any particular person beginning place participant, with one potential exception: Shaw.
Shaw entered this season because the group’s high prospect and ranked twenty second total. He made the Opening Day roster however struggled to a 62 wRC+ in his first 18 video games earlier than he was optioned to Triple-A. He has produced a 90 wRC+ over 204 plate appearances since returning to the majors, and he’s caught hearth in his 12 video games for the reason that All-Star break: Throughout 40 plate appearances, Shaw is slashing .359/.375/.744 with 4 homers and a 212 wRC+. He absolutely received’t maintain that stage of manufacturing, however given his prospect pedigree, it’s potential he’s nearer to the participant he’s been currently than what he confirmed throughout his first stint within the majors. Even so, Castro has been a greater total hitter this 12 months than Shaw (109 wRC+ vs. 83), so if the rookie slips down the stretch, Castro can be a succesful substitute.
In fact, offense has not been the problem for the Cubs. Pitching was their space of concern, and whereas they might not have finished sufficient to strengthen their rotation, they did increase their bullpen, first with Kittredge after which Rogers. (You’ll be able to learn extra in regards to the Kittredge commerce right here.)
In his write-up of the Hayes deal that introduced Rogers to the Pirates, Ben Clemens reasoned that Pittsburgh solely acquired Rogers to offset the cash owed to Hayes, and that Rogers in all probability can be flipped to a different contender earlier than the deadline. That’s precisely what transpired. Caleb Thielbar has pitched pretty nicely out of the Cubs bullpen as a lefty setup man, however the one different left-handed pitcher of their bullpen was Drew Pomeranz. Pomeranz made a powerful comeback at age 36 after a number of vital arm accidents the previous few years. He had allowed only a single unearned run throughout 25 appearances by way of the tip of June, however he has seemed a bit shaky in July, giving up eight runs in 10 appearances.
Aid pitching has been a supply of stress for the Cubs for a lot of the 12 months. Two of the relievers they had been relying on in high-leverage conditions, Ryan Pressly and Porter Hodgestruggled and in the end misplaced their jobs; Hodge was optioned to Triple-A on Wednesday, and Pressly was designated for project on Thursday. Solely when Daniel Palencia was inserted into the nearer function did the pen stabilize a bit. Total, the Cubs aid corps ranks 14th in park- and league-adjusted ERA, although simply twenty fourth in park- and league-adjusted FIP.
So what are the Cubs getting with Rogers? As Ben wrote in his evaluation of the Hayes commerce on Wednesday: “(Rogers) won’t appear like a world-beater, however there’s no technique to slice his statistics the place he isn’t at the least serviceable.” As for these statistics, Rogers has a 2.45 ERA throughout 33 innings this season and a profession 3.28 ERA. At a place of such volatility, Rogers has just about by no means been unhealthy, regardless that you’re all the time a bit shocked while you take a look at his numbers. He’s vastly overperforming his peripherals this season (3.96 xERA, 4.12 FIP, 4.48 xFIP), and he’s operating the worst stroll fee of his profession (13.0%) and his lowest strikeout fee (23.3%) since 2017. However even when his true expertise lies someplace between his precise numbers and his anticipated ones, he ought to nonetheless be a reliable arm for the Cubs down the stretch and an improve from what that they had.
For Castro and Rogers, the Cubs shipped out three prospects. Minnesota acquired two Double-A pitchers in Ryan Gallagher and Sam Armstrong. Gallagher was a sixth-round choose in final 12 months’s draft and shortly ascended by way of Chicago’s farm system. A 3.72 ERA paired with a superb 5.31 strikeout-to-walk ratio in Excessive-A this 12 months lately earned him a promotion to Double-A. Throughout these two ranges, he’s posted a 28.2% strikeout fee because of a major uptick in fastball velocity as a professional. Listed below are Eric Longenhagen’s notes:
Gallagher is a vert-slot righty with a 90-92 mph fastball that punches above its weight a tad and is routinely situated on the high of the zone, the place it performs finest. His most excellent pitch is a screwball-style changeup within the 75-79 mph vary, roughly 14 mph separation from his fastball. He scatters it everywhere in the zone and beneath, and it strikes sufficient to play towards hitters of each handedness even when it finds the meat of the zone. His slider command is far more typical, and Gallagher’s slot helps create some synthetic depth on that pitch, which additionally performs towards hitters from each side. He isn’t throwing many strikes along with his secondary pitches, however each are enjoying like comfortably plus choices. He’ll be a 40 FV on the Twins record as I replace it.
Armstrong appears extra like an organizational depth piece — he wasn’t ranked on any public Cubs prospect lists. A Thirteenth-round select of Previous Dominion within the 2023 draft, he has pitched to a 4.62 ERA and 19.3% strikeout fee this 12 months in his second style of Double-A. Per Longenhagen: “He’s sitting 93, throwing an above-average fee of strikes, stuff appears common or a shade beneath throughout the board.”
For Rogers, the Pirates acquired outfielder Ivan Brethowr. A university teammate of Gallagher’s at UC-Santa Barbara, Brethowr was a power-hitting proper fielder in faculty, blasting 28 house runs in 112 video games. Drafted within the seventh spherical final 12 months, that energy he demonstrated in faculty has disappeared as a professional. He debuted in Single-A final 12 months and hit .169/.274/.253 in 23 video games. He was promoted to Excessive-A this 12 months and has seemed a bit higher — slashing .221/.398/.312 in 83 video games — although he’s nonetheless not hitting for energy. Extra worryingly, his contact fee is simply 66%, which received’t be viable even when he does regain the pop he confirmed at UCSB.
