The Cubs are planning to promote pitching prospect Caleb Kilian to make his major league debut tomorrow against the Cardinals, manager David Ross told reporters (including Jordan Bastian of MLB.com). The right-hander is not yet on the 40-man roster, so Chicago will need to formally select his contract tomorrow. The Cubs’ 40-man is full, meaning there’ll be a corresponding move forthcoming.
Chicago acquired Kilian last summer, adding him alongside outfield prospect Alexander Canario from the Giants for Kris Bryant minutes before the trade deadline. San Francisco had selected Kilian in the eighth round of the 2019 draft out of Texas Tech, and he’s elevated his stock with a strong showing in the minor leagues. The right-hander owned an excellent 2.43 ERA through 63 Double-A innings at the time of the trade, and he’s continued to thrive since changing organizations.
Kilian made four starts with the Cubs Double-A affiliate down the stretch, then has started this season at Triple-A Iowa. He’s worked nine starts and tossed 39 1/3 innings, pitching to a 2.06 ERA with solid strikeout and walk rates (24.8% and 9.1% respectively). Kilian has induced grounders on nearly 60% of batted balls against him — well north of the 43.1% MLB average.
Baseball America recently ranked Kilian the #5 prospect in the Chicago system, writing that he’s improved his raw stuff since entering pro ball. According to BA, the 6’4″ hurler works in the low-mid 90s on his fastball and has a trio of average or better secondary offerings (curveball, cutter and changeup). The outlet credits Kilian with plus control, while FanGraphs wrote this offseason that he may wind up with plus-plus command (a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale) at peak. Both publications suggest he’s likely to be a long-term starting pitcher — probably a middle or back of the rotation arm.
The Cubs would’ve had to add Kilian to the 40-man roster after this season to keep him from being taken in the Rule 5 draft, and they’ll bring him aboard a few months early. It remains to be seen whether the first call will be more than a spot start, as the Cubs and Cards are slated for a doubleheader. Whether it’s immediate or at some point a bit down the line, though, the retooling club figures to install Kilian as a regular rotation member fairly soon.
Even if Kilian is in the majors from here on out, he won’t reach a full year of service time this season. He won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2028 campaign at the earliest. Kilian would be in strong position to qualify for early arbitration after 2025 as a Super Two player, but optional assignments back to Iowa could change that trajectory.
About time. Looking forward to it. He should stay even when Miley and Smyly return. Cubs should start cutting bait now.
I mean isn’t the reigning theory that relative value increases the closer you get to the deadline? Seems like historically those trades yield better results than early ones.
True. But Smyly and Miley aren’t bringing back top 100 prospects anyway. Stroman would be the deadline piece that would bring that kind of return anyway. Along with Contreras. For those other 2 guys you’re hoping for an A ball guy you like. Stroman was making noise about leaving before he even threw a pitch this year. He has like multiple outs in his contract and it was only a 3 year deal at best. So I say deal him.
Naturally they aren’t commanding any top 100 prospects or any organizations top 10 prospects.
I agree Stroman is likely the one guy with Contreras that will command something of value. You may get a top 10 organizational prospect as a starter for both.
You’re not getting a top 100 prospect for two months of Contreras
Not getting much for Stroman either.
You might, he’s the best hitting catcher in the game. He could be a piece to put someone over the top and my guess is someone will offer something of significance for him. Easily a top 10 in the system.
Lol. Trolls are funny.
He’s not the best hitting catcher in the game, that title belongs to Austin Hedges lol
Let’s be real- in 2021 PED Willi hit .237 and Sal Perez destroyed his hitting numbers. If you want to say for first 2 months of this season yeah he’s definitely “one of the best hitting catchers” so far.
PED Willi?? Man I swear there are some really stupid posters on here.
Whosyourmomma, slurp my wad! Continually trolls with the PED accusations.
How do you people know he’s not on them? You think he’s not because of that rigorous MLB PED testing that catches “so many other star mlb players”, right? LOL
Has Willi not almost gotten into about 6 fights already this year? Sure maybe he’s feeling pressure cause he’s approaching FA but that dude roid rages hard. I love his intensity but it’s noticeably more than 99.9% of other mlb catchers.
Also, has anyone looked at his minor league career stats? He went from like a nobody to all of a sudden at like 23 being really good. Sorry, some of that is not just coincidence to me.
Anyone remember that amazing and “perfectly clean” turnaround of a career Arrieta had at like age 28? Does anyone honestly think it’s perfectly normal to add at least 30 lbs of muscle at age of 28?
As always, we await developments.
They’re not trading Stroman 4 months into his contract. He shouldn’t be trade for the duration of the contract. Especially with a team that needs as much pitching as possible. It’s been their weaklink since last year.
Bryant trade right?
Yes.
As it states in the article…
Could be posted before that update
He could be the 27th man
At the very least he could fill the role Thompson was doing before he became a starter. That way he could get MLB experience and control his innings at the same time.
Anne Kilian’s son?
SNL guy
I still have doubts about Steele as a starter. He has no real Strikeout pitch and throws way too many pitches. He rarely lasts more than 5 innings. Maybe he could be the long relief guy until he learns a decent off speed pitch to get out of long AB’s. Either way, Killian should get a full shot. If they’re creating a spot on the 40 man for him, I doubt they would send him back unless he fails miserably.
Steele looked good out of the bullpen last year, and the Cubs need another lefty out there. I don’t think the move is imminent, but if all the veteran starters can get healthy at the same time (including Alec Mills), it would make sense.
True, although with the team not in contention, why not just release Mills and trade Miley.
You don’t trade or fire pitchers when the team needs more pitchers. I’ve talked to a few people that Kilian should replace Kyle Hendricks. Which is just dumb. You can’t and should never replace a vet with a rookie. I know Hendricks has struggled this year but he’d still a valuable pitcher in their rotation. He definitely shouldn’t be traded either.
No strikeout pitch? Last 28IP he has 36Ks…his real issue is too many BB and pitch count. He falls behind and comes right over the plate and gets knocked around. I’m not sure he’ll make it as a starter but zero reason to give up on it now with this team.
@ uncle mike
I haven’t made up my mind either on Steele. But he doesn’t have a KO pitch? Really? Not sure what you’re watching lately. He does have an out pitch, but he sometimes needs to throw it a couple times in order to get it over the plate.
And it would be a good idea to give starts for the next 6 weeks to guys like Smyly and Miley and Mills, in order to build up their trade value – before the inevitable.
I know we won’t do it, but it’s time to DFA Jason Heyward. .198/.270/.247 slash line. Not young. Sunk cost with zero trade value who hurts the team regularly. Sucks when it has to go down that way. Super nice guy, seems like a great person, but from a business standpoint, he just doesn’t deserve a 40-man roster spot with this team any longer.
I agree. Even posted about before. They won’t do it before Suzuki comes back for sure. Frazier and Ortega aren’t an answer to the question, Who’s a major league OF? Hermisillo should be gone once he’s healthy cause he smells also. So he’s a nice guy, Who cares? There are guys who deserve to move up in the minors who are raking and are stuck because these guys are clogging up the parade. Time to cut bait. Not like a contender is going to pick him up and screw the Cubs out of a playoff spot.
The Cubs OF situation is not pretty in its current form, that’s for sure. I don’t really see Frazier as ML player. If you’re going to be a fringe player, you better have a specialty. Speed, defense, etc. He’s not particularly good at anything other than missing time. Ortega could be a decent 4th or 5th, but definitely shouldn’t be getting this many ABs. Is Seiya Suzuki the second coming of Kosuke Fukudome? That first 2 weeks sure was exciting, but he looks pretty average to me. Not bad or anything, but not great either. Heyward is toast. Hermosillo is a minor leaguer. Happ seems like a “smarter” hitter these days, albeit not setting the world on fire. One of those guys who can be a good player for your team, but he’s never going to be THE GUY. A guy who like watching so far is Morel. Fun player. Good stroke. The Cubs should really treat this year for what it is. A transition year. Not a tank job, but let the young guys play, and be smart with your trade chips.
Not sure what you could get for Happ but this might be a good year to find out. Still, decent SH OF’s don’t grow on trees and have value.
You’ll get a non-top 100 type of prospect or two for Happ. You’re not getting much more though.
Agree, he hasnt shown enough consistency unless he gets blazing hot before the trade deadline, then it seems even GMs get caught up in the hype of a hotstreak. Happ is worth keeping to see how he can develop. The approach at the plate has been solid this year and the glove looks really good in LF. If some team is gonna give up the farm, sure, but I don’t see teams willing to part w much for his inconsistent track record.
If he continues to produce, now may be a good time to lock Happ up w an extension.
Happ is too old to be talking about him developing. He should be trade bait.
Robert? See how he develops? He’s been in the majors like 7 years. I think at this point what you see is what you get. A streaky switch hitter who has no real strong defensive position. Not a building block IMO.
Yep, the Heyward DFA needed to be about 2 seasons ago already!
What a joke of a organization. Had one good fluke year the last 116 years. Almost never even contending the rest of them. Looks like anther 100 years before they even contend again.
One Fluke year?
Hmmm, 2015…2016…2017… Were more than one FLUKE year and they stayed in the playoff hunt until last year, so no it wasn’t one FLUKE year…
It’s themed the douchebag. He’s still not over them winning in 2016 when they were favored to win it all.
Themed has been trolling on here for years. He’s also been not getting laid for years. Pretty much one of the biggest losers on the planet.
If I was a Cardinal fan I’d be embarrassed by that one joke clown.
How’s your cubs doing this year pal? Or last year pal! Cards never tank cubs sure can’t make that clam.
How’s the basement of the troll division? Not going to make .500 swinging and missing like that.
The cubs suck always have always will. Worse organization in baseball. They should just close that old decaying stadium down and move the team to Montreal.
This could the Giants’ Zach Wheeler 2.0
Traded a pending free agent in exchange for a stud SP. Darn Sabean.
As always, we await developments.