Major League Baseball’s most recent 20-game winner is now part of the Cubs organization after signing a minor league deal with a camp invite. Kyle Wright, the 30-year-old former Braves starter, is in Mesa trying to work his way back to the bigs for the first time since 2023. That season was marred by a shoulder injury that eventually required surgery, forcing him to miss all of 2024 as well. He joined the Royals organization last season, but did not earn a trip to the bigs with them.
What’s truly wild about Wright’s career is that he’s got 24 total wins over parts of six seasons, and 21 of them came in one season. He went 21-5 over 30 starts for Atlanta in 2022, which means that season also saw him make more starts with more innings pitched than in the rest of his MLB career combined. His 3.19 ERA that season is also well over a run below his aggregate mark.
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I wasn’t able to find anything about Wright’s offseason work and where his velocity is at, but his fastball averaged just over 95 mph during that aberrant season. It dipped to 93.3 the following season, likely as a result of the shoulder issue, which is probably why Jed Hoyer is so bullish on him. More notable in regard to Wright’s repertoire is how he adjusted his curveball in ’22.
Though it’s listed as a knuckle curve each season, he bumped both its usage and velo in a major way that year and the next. The curve became Wright’s primary offering, going from under 15% in each of the three previous seasons to over 34% usage in 2022. That went to a little over 47% in ’23, albeit in a 31-inning sample. His velo jumped from around 81 mph to 84-85, indicating a change in grip, intent, or both. Knuckle curves are typically thrown a little harder than their traditional brethren, and probably work better out of Wright’s low-three-quarter slot.
His version is relatively slurvy as opposed to the 12-6 movement you often think of with a curve, again due to his slot. His fastball is more like a sinker, getting much less ride and more arm-side run than most, while his sinker is a bowling ball that helped him generate loads of grounders over his two most recent campaigns. The changeup is likewise very heavy.
While I don’t have any expectations for this deal moving forward, I really like it for the Cubs. It’s got no risk, just like any other minors deal, but there’s a lot to like about Wright’s profile. If he’s back up in the mid-90s, which should be the case given his age and history, he could end up being a really nice depth piece in Iowa. And given the decidedly non-zero odds of an injury or three throughout the season, maybe he’ll get another crack at putting another mark in the win column.
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