The Cubs have signed right-hander Joe Ross to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had become a free agent about a week ago when the Phillies released him.
Ross, 32, missed the 2022 and 2023 seasons due to Tommy John surgery. He was back on the mound in 2024 and had a nice bounceback season. He tossed 74 innings for the Brewers in a swing role, allowing 3.77 earned runs per nine. His 20.6% strikeout rate, 9% walk rate and 41% ground ball rate were all close to league average.
The Phils signed him to a one-year, $4MM deal, hoping to get that kind of performance out of him this year, but it didn’t work out. He gave Philly 51 frames with a 5.12 ERA. His ground ball rate ticked up to 45.5% and his walk rate improved to 7.9% but his strikeout rate fell to 17.1%.
Although his results have backed up this year, he’s a sensible depth add for the Cubs, as they have seen their pitching depth thinned a bit recently. Prior to the deadline, their main rotation addition was Michael Soroka. Unfortunately, a shoulder strain put him on the injured list just a few days after that swap. A few weeks after that, a strained groin put Jameson Taillon on the shelf.
To cover for those injuries, swingman Colin Rea has entered the rotation, alongside Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Cade Horton and Javier Assad. There are some workload concerns in that group. Boyd is up to 159 1/3 innings this year, which is more than he tossed in the three previous seasons combined. Horton has logged 127 2/3 innings between the majors and minors this year, which is more than his workload in 2023 and 2024 combined. Imanaga missed some time due to a hamstring strain, which has perhaps led to his drop in velocity and strikeout rate compared to last year.
The Cubs are clearly aware that they could use some more arms. They claimed Aaron Civale off waivers from the White Sox a few days ago. He pitched three innings of long relief behind Rea in yesterday’s game. Perhaps Soroka or Taillon can come off the injured list in the coming weeks but Ross gives the club an extra layer of veteran protection for now.
The log lists Ross’s signing date as September 1st. If that’s true, he wouldn’t be eligible to pitch in the postseason for the Cubs. It’s possible the deal was actually signed late on August 31st but didn’t become public until later. If that’s the case, then Ross would be postseason eligible with the Cubs.
Photo courtesy of Brad Mills, Imagn Images