The Cubs are adding a right-hander Luke Farrell to the big league roster before tomorrow evening’s game against the Cardinals, manager David Ross told reporters (including Tim Stebbins of NBC Sports Chicago). He’ll get the start for the contest.
It’ll be the first MLB outing of the season for Farrell, who signed a minor league deal in April. He’s spent the entire season at Triple-A Iowa, starting 11 of his 17 outings. Over 59 innings, Farrell has a 5.03 ERA with a below-average 19% strikeout rate and a higher than average 10.9% walk percentage. It’s the first extended rotation stretch for the Northwestern product since 2018, also a stint in the Chicago farm system.
Farrell has come out of the bullpen for 58 of his 63 big league outings, working 87 2/3 innings between the Royals, Reds, Cubs, Rangers and Twins. He owns a 4.93 ERA at the major league level, including a 4.74 mark in 20 outings with Minnesota last season. Farrell typically runs solid swing-and-miss rates, but he’s had spotty control and given up quite a few home runs at the major league level.
The Cubs will need to formally select Farrell’s contract tomorrow. He’ll be the third pitcher added to the 40-man roster in two days, as Chicago also brought up Javier Assad and Nicholas Padilla today. Those transactions brought the 40-man to full capacity, but the Cubs could easily transfer either Kyle Hendricks or Wade Miley to the 60-day injured list to free a spot.
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