The Cubs selected the newly acquired righty's contract Jesus Tinoco, tweeted Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. He will join their major league bullpen to start the second half of the season. On the left Jordan Wicks, already out for more than a month with an oblique strain, is being transferred from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster. Wicks will now be out until mid-August at the earliest.
Chicago acquired Tinoco from the Royals for cash earlier in the week. Presumably, given how quickly he was added to the big league roster, the right-hander had some sort of opt-out or walk-up clause in his contract that led to the switch.
Tinoco, 29, pitched 10 innings for the Rangers earlier this season and allowed nine runs before being assigned. He turned down an outright assignment to Triple-A in favor of free agency, signed with the Royals a few days later, and now finds himself back in the majors with the Cubs less than a month after becoming a free agent.
This year's run with the Rangers hasn't gone as well as he'd hoped, but Tinoco has pitched 20 2/3 innings of 2.18 ERA ball at Texas back in 2022 and has a 4.58 earned run average in 76 2/3 innings. -innings fell. five quarters of the year. He averages better than 96 mph on his fastball but doesn't miss bats at the highest level; he struck out 18.1% of his major league opponents against an unachievable 13.9% walk rate. He had a solid game in 28 innings at Triple-A this season, however, posting a 3.86 ERA with a whopping 31.9% strikeout rate compared to a more manageable (but still above average) 9.5% walk rate.
The Cubs' bullpen has been a problem for much of the 2024 season. They are a middle-of-the-pack team in terms of ERA but have been sluggish in high-profile situations, as they have the third-highest walk rate in the majors, at 10.8%. Tinoco will give them a new arm, although his history of commanding problems does not inspire much confidence that he will help the team overcome its travel problems. If the Cubs plan to add to the roster between now and the July 30 trade deadline — they are currently 3.5 games out of the Wild Card spot in the NL — bullpen help will likely be the focus.
Source link
