Positive Update on Jaxon Wiggins, Not So Much on Kyle Wright
Top Cubs prospect Jaxon Wiggins was looking like a possibility to debut later this season, but he hasn’t pitched since early April. After being scratched from his scheduled start on April 9, the Cubs said it was just a matter of “being strategic with the way we deploy our pitching.” That was apparently farm director Jason Kanzler’s way of saying Wigging was dealing with elbow inflammation that landed him on the IL, which naturally stoked more than a little concern.
Things appear to be going well, however, as Sahadev Sharma reported for The Athletic that Wiggins has looked good in bullpens and is expected to throw live batting practice on Friday in Arizona. Getting through that unscathed would be a big step in getting the righty back to Iowa. The Cubs are going to be very judicious with his usage, and it’s possible they could even dial him back to a relief role at some point to keep his innings down.
I’m not convinced that’s actually the best course of action, as it prevents Wiggins — or any pitching — from building up an adequate acute-to-chronic workload ratio. A lot of the pitching injuries we see come when guys experience a sudden spike in workload, whether that’s early in the season or when throwing a lot of innings following a year or more in which they were treated with kid gloves.
Here’s to hoping Wiggins bounces back without further hiccups.
That wasn’t the case for former Braves pitcher Kyle Wright, who was brought into camp as a non-roster invitee. Wright missed all of spring training due to shoulder issues, but was hitting 96 mph during his work in Mesa and was ready to hop a flight to Iowa. As Sharma reported, however, Wright experienced more shoulder pain and has been shut down.
Looks like Jed Hoyer is just going to have to keep going to the well for the next emergency arm until he sees fit to swing a trade. Being contenders automatically puts the Cubs in a position to buy ahead of the deadline, but their myriad injury problems make adding via trade more of a necessity than a luxury.
