The Chicago Cubs have an additional drama working its way through this spring training. They need to come up with a new fifth starter.
Javier Assad, last season’s rotation mainstay and favorite for the fifth starter slot this season, is dealing with an oblique strain that will keep him from starting the season in the Cubs’ rotation. That reality has created the need to find someone else for a rotation that also boasts Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, and Matthew Boyd.
Javier Assad Will Not Make The Opening Day Roster
Aug 31, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Javier Assad (72) reacts after coming off the mound against the Washington Nationals during the sixth inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images
The truth is, though, that Assad was not necessarily a lock for that fifth starter spot, anyway. The 27-year-old may have been the favorite after a season that saw him register a 3.73 ERA in 29 games and 147 innings, but there was considerable competition for the final rotation spot coming into spring training and Assad was not a sure thing to make the starting five.
In the offseason, names such as Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks, Cody Poteet, and top pitching prospect Cade Horton were named as possible fifth men in addition to Assad. The free agent signing of veteran Colin Rea also added a name to the list of potential contenders for the role.
Fans Decide On Chicago Cubs Fifth Starter
A recent fan poll conducted by MLB Trade Rumors, before Assad was ruled out of making the opening day roster, shows that the fans believe someone other than Assad will be the Cubs’ fifth starter headed into the 2025 campaign.
According to the poll that registered 4,419 participants, Rea is the favorite to make the back-end of the rotation with 27.54% of the vote. He’s followed by Assad with 25.98%. After that, Ben Brown came in with 22.79%, Wicks got 16.02%, and “someone else” got 7.67%.
Possibilities
It’s actually not much of a surprise that the 34-year-old Rea would be considered the favorite to take the final rotation spot. The six-year veteran most recently pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers, with two of those seasons coming directly under the watch of Cubs manager and former Brewers manager Craig Counsell. The familiarity factor, alone, would seem to make Rea a favorite in the race for pitching time.
Rea has never been blow-away great, with a less-than-stellar 4.57 career ERA in 94 total games, but he’s been solid enough as a reliable innings eater. Originally thought to be signed on his one-year, $5 million deal as a swing man, there was always the possibility that he’d find some rotation work at some point in the season.
The fan poll runner-up, Brown, might be the long-term answer when it comes to being a starting rotation asset. The 6-foot-6 right-hander showed outstanding stuff last season, at times overpowering hitters, before a persistent neck injury shut down his season.
Up until the injury, Brown had delivered a 3.58 ERA in 55.1 innings, including a 3.23 ERA in eight starts. The 25-year-old had been given full medical clearance this offseason to resume training and has pitched 4.1 innings this spring.
The 25-year-old lefty Wicks, meanwhile, has shown flashes of brilliance, but, hampered by injury, has never delivered fully on his promise. Last season, he posted a 5.48 ERA in eleven games (ten starts). Wicks’ most likely role on the Cubs will be as a long reliever, with emergency starter capability.
Other possibilities for the fifth starter spot exist, as well as the possibility that the Cubs may make a deal for another arm at some point in the season. There’s also the distinct reality that another starter may fall from the rotation at some point, necessitating another backup to move up.
As is always the case in baseball, anything can happen and the Cubs will just have to prepare themselves for the unexpected.
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