The Cubs have designated right-handed reliever Brandon Workman for assignment, per a team announcement. Left-hander Justin Steele has been recalled from the alternate training site in his place.
Workman, 32, signed a one-year, $1MM contract with the Cubs late in the offseason. The contract came with an additional $2MM of available incentives for the former Red Sox closer, but his stint with the Cubs looks to be coming to a close after just eight innings.
Workman was hit hard in that brief time, surrendering six runs on a dozen hits (two homers) and seven walks with 11 strikeouts. It’s the second consecutive rough year for the hard-throwing righty, who was clobbered for a 5.95 ERA in 19 2/3 frames between the Red Sox and Phillies last summer.
Setting aside his disappointing work in 2020-21, Workman was a solid late-inning option for Boston from 2017-19. During that time he gave the BoSox 152 2/3 innings of 2.59 ERA ball while striking out just under 29 percent of the hitters he faced. Workman led the Red Sox with 16 saves in 2019 and finished second among Boston relievers with 71 2/3 innings — all while striking out more than 36 percent of his opponents.
Workman’s average fastball has dipped by more than a mile per hour since that brilliant 2019 campaign, dropping from 93.1 mph to 91.8 mph. He’s still registered a respectable swinging-strike rate since 2020 (10.7 percent), but Workman has yielded far too much hard contact and seen his already pedestrian walk rate spike to egregious levels in recent years.
The Cubs will have a week to trade Workman, try to pass him through waivers or simply release him. Based on his track record, he should land with another club if he does hit the market, but that may well have to come on a non-guaranteed pact. Offseason interest in the righty was tepid enough, after all, that he inked the aforementioned one-year, $1MM guarantee. It’s hard to imagine that a lackluster showing with the Cubs has done any favors for his stock. Still, Workman’s dominant 2019 season is a testament to his raw ability, and other clubs around the league surely have their own ideas about how to once again coax that type of performance from him.
As for the 25-year-old Steele, he made his big league debut earlier this year and rattled off 3 1/3 innings of shutout ball. Baseball America tabs him as the organization’s No. 22 prospect, characterizing him as a potential hard-throwing reliever with some command issues. Steele was a starter throughout his minor league career, but the Cubs are looking at him in the ’pen after he was rocked for a 5.59 ERA through 11 starts in a pitcher-friendly setting at Double-A in 2019.
Such a disappointment of a signing. Was expecting big things from him.
Well, it just didn’t WORK-MAN.
Workman and Hembree for Pivetta and Seabold …. BWAHAHAHAHA!!!
Robbery on our part lol
How about a trade Luke Jackson for Workman and you keep em both.
Pivetta will normalize and be just as bad as he’s anyways been.
He did look abnormal against the Mets the other night
Yeah, let’s circle back to Pivetta after 70 starts, which he had with the Phillies, instead of just the 7 he’s had with the Red Sox. Maybe he’s turned the corner, but time will be the great determiner.
Give Bloom credit. Sox fans want everything instantly. Given the financial constraints he started with, who could have revamped the club better? You can’t find success every time and I still believe DD did everything ownership asked him to do. Bloom is here now and seems to understand short term pain can sometimes lead to long term gain. I can’t evaluate other clubs minor league talent. I can say Boston seems to have talent at every position ready to be promoted should the situation dictate with more to follow. If the season progresses, he’s positioned the club in short order to be either a buyer or seller. Just let the season unfold.
Jackson for Workman, and get this… their bodies and spirits intertwine and both float into a blissful trade purgatory of sorts. Eventually fading into the deep dark abyss where the words Jackson and Workman grace no lips or bullpen telephones, and are truly forgotten, at last.
Well done, Rocket. Reminds of Chris Elliot as “Marlon Brando” handing Dave Letterman an envelope and saying, “Here’s your letter, man!” Gold.
Twins????
Boston will probobly take him back. Don’t see anyone else going for him at the moment.
I’m guessing he’ll clear waivers and be released– maybe he’ll end up with a minor league deal.
…or “Know pitching for the Samsung Lions, Brandon Workman”.
Something happened to this guy last year. Was lights out in 2019.
He’s getting to that age where players sometimes hit the skids. The drop off can be pretty dramatic when it happens.
He needs to make like Zack Greinke helping out Alex Gordon and hit the video room. Watch videos of himself from 2019 and tell himself to “do more of that”. Problem solved.
If the Cubs dealt in analytics then his already good curveball could’ve been made better and his other pitches too, but accordingly to the stone age staff, it just has to drop and that’s it
I think once Theo left, he took the best formulas, sabermetrics, and algorithms with him, including Bill James latest stats.
It’s the curve ball which has been his out and K pitch the last few seasons. He goes to it right at 50% of the time, it’s been that good in the past, issue is when hitters don’t swing at it out of the zone and another thing for guys with terrific 12-6 curves.. Umpires who will call it a strike even when it does end up in the zone.
One more thing.. Steve..Workman was never some kind of hard thrower known for his FB, it always was used as kind of a setup to his curve and before being a reliever and so curve heavy? His cutter. Don’t think he ever touched above 95 and usually sat low 90’s is my memories of him while with Boston.
But if the fastball is down, it can’t set up the curve unless he finds a way to drop the curve velocity even more while still keeping spin rate and accuracy the same. Extremely hard to do. That 93 mph fastball looked like 95+ against his old curve.
It’s a,so true like others mentioned, he was never a stud just someone who was at times useful.
Cubs will now only lose 5-0 instead of 10-0.
Yikes, this guy has been absolutely horrendous for the past two seasons. 2019 is looking a bit more like an anomaly.
2019 was an anomaly!
IN 71
Hits 29
BB 45
He was ok in 2017 and 2018, but not great in his combined 80 inning those 2 years. In 2019 no one could hit him or and most did not lay off the curveball in the dirt thus all the walks and strikeouts. Workman did not stick in Boston until he had no more options to keep from being sent back to AAA.
Some team will sign him to a minor league contract although I doubt it is the Red Sox.
Dude is toast.
French, or buttered?
He’s from Arlington, so naturally, Texas toast
Burnt.
I’m guessing he’ll clear waivers and be released– maybe he’ll end up with a minor league deal.
Just 10-12 more pitchers to assign along with the Happ-less hitting then everything will be fine. Good job Jed.
What do you think the Cubs will do with Happ?
A pedestrian walk rate.
Thanks Steve, gotta love that one.
Statistically the best reliever in 2019… big sad for him
Couldn’t they have waited until after tonight’s game?! ( Braves fan)
Don’t worry there will be another bumm arm the Braves can beat up on tonight.
Cubs” pitching staff sucks and has for a while!
If it wasn’t for their offense, which has stunk lately too, they would’ve never been picked to win the Central Division again
No one picked them to win
why???
Ask Nancy Kerrigan.
The cubs are going no where fast and they haven’t played good teams yet. Looks like things are getting back to normal. Lovable losers. Couldn’t happen to a better cocky fan base. Enjoy!
Themed—-that’s the best thing about you—-you put stuff on the internet like it is fact. “They haven’t played good teams yet”…….looking at the schedule they have played 18 games against the Braves, Mets, and Brewers (19 after tonight). Only six against the Pirates. That’s 19 against good teams and six against not good teams.
Here’s why Cub fans are cocky——they know that they Cubs have never lost a playoff series to the Cardinals——still undefeated.
That’s because the cubs don’t get in as many playoff games as the Cardinals son. Which team has won most World Series divisions pennants huh huh tell me who?
It’s too bad there is not an option to reply in crayon so you may have a chance to understand what you are reading. I didn’t say anything about how many playoff games the Cubs have or haven’t been in comparison to the Cardinals…I said the Cubs have never lost a playoff series to the Cardinals. Yes, they did lose A playoff game to the Cardinals but never a series.
One of the few times the cubs finally got in the playoffs. The Cardinals have won more Division titles than the rest of the Central division teams put together. They owned it. Try to come up with something more substantial. Don’t care about your one and only claim to fame. That’s all you go son. Enjoy last place again this year. The Cardinals have only finished last 1 time in the last 75 years. The cubs finally won once in 120 by intentionally doing it multi able times in a row.
He’s not needed anymore with Cy Rizzo available
He fell off badly.
Workman is yet another example of all the hard choices our Cubs organization made during the off season (SMH). They mainly needed pitching and a leadoff hitter. Right now it looks like Rizzo is their man to stick his finger in the dike for both needs. Hah, damn it.
No work for this man, this Workman, it would seem.
Workman? More like bangonadrumallday man. Amirite?