The Cubs acquired minor league right-hander Jake Wong from the Reds late last week, according to the transaction log at MLB.com. He is not on the 40-man roster. The 27-year-old made his organizational debut with Double-A Tennessee.
Wong entered the professional ranks as a third-round pick of the Giants in 2018. Cincinnati acquired him as the player to be named later in an offseason trade that sent Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol to San Francisco. The Reds called Wong up for one appearance at the end of June. He allowed three runs in as many innings working in relief against the Orioles. Cincinnati outrighted him off the 40-man roster not long after.
The Grand Canyon product struggled in the upper levels of the minors with Cincinnati. Wong pitched to a 5.17 ERA over 47 Double-A frames. He had a particularly tough time in Triple-A, where he allowed more than a run per inning while walking more hitters (18.1%) than he struck out (12.8%). That’s a season he’ll obviously look to put behind him. Wong had better numbers in High-A while a member of the San Francisco organization back in 2022, turning in a 4.52 ERA while punching out more than a quarter of opposing hitters.
Why?
You don’t know why..but they do!
Closer material
Is he the right Wong or the Wong Wong?
Ol dumpster diving Jed!
I think they got the Wong guy.
There it is
Right?
This wasn’t a guy I was looking for them to get to say the least.
Was there a better fit? Wong answers only
Fun fact: Wong is now one of three Grand Canyon University pitchers in the Cubs’ system (Scalzo, Hull).
Isn’t Grand Canyon University like a crappy on line school? I used to work with a woman who used to brag about her “Alma Mater” Capel University. Always wanted to asker her how their football team was doing.
Are the Reds penny-pinching because there’s financial stress? This is about the fourth player in a few days they have sold off. Which is t a bad thing, just curious about the motivations…
The most recent two pitchers have struggled mightily this year. Motivation might be improvement
Bally’s not paying up?
I have an interest in what’s going on with Bally’s and from what I understand it isn’t really Bally rather other companies not working with them so they can charge the viewera more money.
When small/mid market teams get poor ROI from pricey FAs like Candelario and Martinez, little corners get cut in other areas.
Because there are limits on minor league rosters now, you’re seeing this type of transaction a lot now. Cubs AA just moved a pitcher up to AAA. Instead of changing the development arc of a guy in A, they got Wong. Probably a guy that was on the Reds AA development list.
They shouldn’t have had high expectations for Candelario or Martinez. Neither have ever been very good.
How is this penny pinching. They could not find an obvious trade partner since he’s not very good. You might as well churn the roster even if it’s in AAA. They are going to need whatever depth they have in the minors to help. I doubt it’s some windfall of money. He may not even worth much in bitcoin.
I hope they got some nice wood bats in return.
Wong is right for the Cubs.
Nothing to Wright home about
Probably have players who need to move up a level and are selling off the has beens or never were’s to make room for their promotions. Why not get a couple of dollars for something you were going to toss on the scrap heap anyway?
The price is Wong, Bobbie!!
What could go Wong.
Wong place, Wong time
The Cubs saw something. Run him through the pitch lab to see what you have then work on adjustments. You never know what you might have.
I came for the puns and I am not disappointed. Thank you all.