Bear right-handed Javier Assad Eliminated this spring due to oblique pain, 670-scoring Bruce Levine will not be ready to commit in time this afternoon in the Tokyo Series on March 18 or the U.S. Opening against the Diamondbacks on March 27 this afternoon.
Assad, 27, has had a lot of success in three seasons in Chicago, despite suspicious peripherals. Right-handed has been part-time swing roles for the Cubs in 2022 and 23 seasons, and has posted 3.06 ERA (139 ERA+) in 147 innings in 41 appearances (18 games). Despite the impressive base numbers, this excellent output is still the case. Assad has hit only 20.2% of his opponents in the first two seasons, while his opponents have a 9.9% shooting percentage, while his 44.7% ground ball percentage is high, but not outstanding. This has earned him a 4.34 FIP and 4.59 Siera in the past two years, both portraying him as a below-average pitcher despite the results being above average.
Last year, when the right-handed was handed to the opening day rotation point by the Cubs, you can wonder if those boring peripherals will come back to bite him. However, he once again managed to violate the basic metrics for 2024, but despite the 4.64 FIP and 4.72 Siera, it was released as 3.73 ERA (107 ERA+). His strikeout, walking and ground ball percentages have largely remained unchanged compared to the previous two seasons, but despite still posting solid back-end starts in 147 innings and 29 innings. His 4.38 ERA and 4.80 FIP breakouts in last year’s All-Star Game, which is a potential reason for the attention, but after the offseason, the club is more focused on upgrading its roster and bullpen rather than spinning Assad once again thinks about the club’s game to open up the 2025 season.
However, these plans have to be put on hold for the time being, however, as Assad has just begun to return to the mound after being phased out the entire month of the pressure of tilting last month. Levine wrote that the Cubs hope he will have a bullpen meeting next week, but even in the air. Given the uncertainty of Assad’s identity, it was not surprising that the Cubs decided to officially plug the plug into the opening day and began exploring other options to carefully fill in the rotation options.
shota imanaga and Justin Steele The former Chicago rotation is planned to start the club’s two games in a match against Tokyo’s Dodgers. Meanwhile, veterans Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd Chicago made up for the middle of the Cubs’ rotation after joining Boyd on its two-year contract in December. If Assad is no longer the fifth starter option Colin Rea. Rea, 34, has released 4.40 ERA (96 ERA+) and 4.82 FIP in 58 appearances (49 starts) over the past two years. He believes that as long as he is healthy, he can be in the opening day squad, although he also has enough experience.
The possibility of Rea being used as a long-term relief rather than an appetizer makes one of the other potential starting options for the bear to get a fifth starter job. Right-handed Ben Brown He shined in his 55 1/3 innings with 3.58 ERA and 3.11 FIP in his rookie season, and the osteoma on his neck took over the second half of last year, and now he looks completely healthy now. Jordan Wicks Struggling in an injured campaign in 2024, but is recently the top 100 prospect and has a lot of room for upside.
Veterans Rotating Arm Chris Flexen and Brad Keller They are all camps in the camp as non-stream invitees, and maybe it is possible to compete with Rea, Brown and Wicks for the fifth-place starter job. A player who is unlikely to compete for the job is top pitching prospects Cade Hortonthis spring, he is healthy after the lost season in 2024, but still has little experience at his third-level. In theory, who earned a fifth-place starter job can put themselves in more permanent jobs, even beyond Assad’s upcoming IL job, given that the 27-year-old has both extensive bullpen experience and minor league choices.
