That was quick.
In Friday’s game against the Reds, Julian Merryweather had yet another bad outing. Since beginning the 2025 season with a 2.08 ERA in his first 14 appearances, Merryweather posted an ERA of 14.29 and WHIP of 3.177 (!) over his most recent seven games, with two home runs in just 5⅔ innings.
The outing Friday was apparently enough for Jed Hoyer & Co. (Bluesky link):
RHP Julian Merryweather has been designated for assignment.
Cubs have called up RHP Brooks Kriske from Triple A.
— Meghan Montemurro (@mmontemurro.bsky.social) 2025-05-24T18:33:52.870Z
Kriske has pitched in 20 MLB games from 2020-23 for the Yankees, Orioles and Royals and… well, the results aren’t good. (Baseball-reference link)
He was signed to a minor-league deal with the Cubs last November and appeared in six Spring Training games with a 6.75 ERA. At Triple-A Iowa this year, Kriske has a 3.38 ERA and 1.125 WHIP in 13 games covering 18⅔ innings, with eight walks and 28 strikeouts.
I suspect the Cubs are doing this rather than promoting Gavin Hollowell again in order to save some of Hollowell’s options for later in the year. If Kriske is good, the Cubs will keep him around. If not, he’ll be DFA’d and they’ll try someone else.
Kriske will wear uniform No. 57.
As always, we await developments.