Cubs sigh righty pitcher Brooks Riske |
Every now and then, a transaction occurs over the offseason that may get overlooked or not show up at all. This is one of those instances, as it appears the Cubs have agreed to terms with another pitcher on a minor league deal.
Although it hasn't officially been released on any of the Cubs sites, it did appear on Brooks Kriske's Social Media page as he will be signing with his hometown team. The 30-year-old right-hander was a former sixth-round pick out of USC and was taken by the New York Yankees. Since that day, Kriske has had a tough time staying in an organization and has bounced around several organizations. That included two seasons in Japan when he played in the NPB during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. It took Kriske four years to reach the majors, making his big league debut in 2020. During that season, he appeared in four games and logged an ERA north of 13. One season later, Kriske appeared in a career-high 12 MLB games with similar results. He has appeared in 21 innings across his MLB career and has an ERA of 11.22 in those games. Those struggles alone were a big reason why he went to Japan, where he spent the next two seasons in the NPB. As is the case for many pitchers who make that move, Kriske made some adjustments and started to become a far more consistent pitcher, which led to his getting another chance with the Royals in 2023. After being released by them in the winter of 2023, Kriske found a new home with the Cincinnati Reds, where he joined their AAA organization for the 2024 season. What started as a Louisville Bats member ended with the Norfolk Tides as he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles organization mid-season. Looking a bit more into Kriske's production last season, you will see much better results than in seasons past, and that could be why the Cubs are taking a chance on him. Overall, in 24, Kriske posted a solid 3.39 ERA across 58 innings and struck out an impressive 81 batters. He did that while holding hitters to a .169 average, as he was sometimes flat-out dominant. Given what he did in the majors before this season, you could call his 2024 season the breakout year he was looking for. However, after watching him pitch in the NPB, you can see this coming as he finally got the chance he had been waiting for. As part of the Yokohama Baystars in 2022, Kriske only saw 21 innings of work but posted a 2.57 ERA in the process. One year later, he was with the Saitama Lions, posting a 1.93 ERA in 14 games. Those are both small sample sizes, but when you compare those numbers to what he did in AAA last season, it gives off the impression that he has figured something out on the mound. This may look like another one of those depth moves to fill out a roster for training camp, but perhaps there is more to it than that. Jed Hoyer has spent a lot of time scouting in Japan during the past few seasons, so there is a good chance he saw Kriske pitch during his time there. He may have seen something he liked and could be using that to his advantage here. With a 34% strikeout rate in AAA last season, which is no joke, Kriske has shown the ability to be a dominant reliever and finally got an extended look somewhere. If this is one of those cases where the Cubs see something they like in a pitcher, expect Kriske to get a lot of runs in their pitching lab, where the Cubs will look to turn him into a reliable depth option. Brooks Kriske struck out the side in the 8th inning of the @LouisvilleBats win tonight. #Reds Brooks Kriske's historical night!
Hitters whiffed on all four swings against his splitter as evidenced below. 1 BB/12 over his last 6.1 IP.
Contain yourself @RedsInFour. pic.twitter.com/3ZveIQybPs
His four wild pitches in one inning ties an MLB record set five times previously. The last time was 2008. It's the first time in MLB history a pitcher has thrown four or more wild pitches in the ninth inning or later pic.twitter.com/0VcNqzITkN
