After not making the Cubs’ 31-man Tokyo roster, some are speculating that pitcher Keegan Thompson will be a DFA’d by the Cubs.
The 29-year-old posted a decent season for the Cubs in 2024 after returning from injury. His 2.67 ERA, 1.220 WHIP, and 36 K’s were decent in 30.1 innings pitched. This cut his 4.71 ERA from 2023 nearly in half. Perhaps a positive sign he was starting to reach his true potential. However, other talented arms in the bullpen paired with his shaky Spring training were likely the deciding factor in the Cubs not sending him to Tokyo.
A promising start to his career
Keegan Thompson was a third-round pick in 2017 by the Cubs. Thompson made his major league debut in 2021. His breakout campaign came in 2022 where he made 17 starts for the Cubs and appeared 12 times out of the Bullpen. In 2022 Thompson posted 1.4 bWAR, a 3.76 ERA, a 1.270 WHIP, and a 111 ERA+. This season was thought to be his a sign of things to come and many Cubs fans believed he would be a staple of the rotation going forward.
However, since 2022 he hasn’t started a single game for the Cubs, has posted just .7 bWAR, and only thrown 59 innings. He by no means has been awful, but his 2022 campaign looks more like an anomaly, as opposed to a true breakout.
Thompson’s arsenal features a four-seam fastball, a cutter, a curve, a slider, and an occasional changeup. His four-seamer generates lots of swing-and-miss with its natural sinking action. Meanwhile, the curve may be his most dangerous pitch with great late movement. This pitch resulted in a high number of ground balls. But his challenge so far in his career has been to throw these pitches for strikes. His career mark of 4.4 BB/9 is nothing to brag about. But over the last two seasons that mark has ballooned to 5.6 BB/9.
Tough decisions to make
When asked about the decision to not carry Keegan Thompson on the Tokyo roster Cubs president of Baseball operations Jed Hoyer told Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times “ It is hard to evaluate Spring Training, but ultimately, that was how we made the decision…I thought Keegan threw well here, but ultimately, we felt like some guys were better. Realistically, we knew coming into camp that we’d have to make some hard decisions.”
The Cubs have other talented arms that they wanted to roster instead. Currently on the 40-man roster the Cubs have young arms Porter Hodge, Nate Pearson, and Daniel Palenica. Add to this recent veteran additions such as Ryan Pressley, Eli Morgan, Tyson Miller, and Ryan Brasier. It’s clear to see why Keegan is the odd man out. As much as the Cubs love his ability on the mound he has lacked the thing essential to be a quality Major League pitcher: Consistency.
Ultimately the Cubs may have no choice but to DFA Thompson, as he has no minor league options remaining. This means he would either need to join the Cub’s big league roster or be taken off the 40-man roster. Keegan may soon find work on another major league roster.
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