Cubs Make Slew of Minor League Rule 5 Selections, Lose Chris Clarke to Mariners
The Chicago Cubs decided to be boring this year.
With their 40-man roster set at 36 players, they declined to make a selection in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft. That didn't exempt them from losing one of their minor leaguers though.
Chris Clarke was a former fourth-round selection in the 2019 MLB Draft by the Cubs. Clarke was a 24 year old who lost much of his prime development time to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. He returned, age-23 in 2021, making nine starts for High-A South Bend.
In 2022, he returned to High-A and received a mid-season promotion to Double-A Tennessee. Across 120.1 innings at the two levels, he pitched to a 4.64 ERA.
His age and 4.40 K/BB bodes well for his chances in the Majors next year with the Seattle Mariners. The Cubs have so much starting pitch depth though, that it's likely Clarke wouldn't have found the back-end of a Major League roster at all with Chicago in 2023.
However, the Rule 5 Draft isn't finished once the Major League component is done. Now, any player not protected on a Big League or a Triple-A roster is eligible, and new selections are exempt from roster restrictions.
In Round 1 of this phase, the Cubs selected Jose Aquino from the Mariners. A 20-year-old Dominican-international, Aquino has played only one inning above Rookie-ball. The left-handed starter has pitched 78.2 career pro innings for a 3.20 ERA.
In Round 2, the Cubs selected Nick Burdi, a former Major Leaguer with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 12.1 Big League innings from 2018-20, he had a 9.49 ERA, but his FIP is 3.29. In that limited sample size, he's struck out 23 batters. The last time he pitched professionally was 2020's shortened season.
Finally, in Round 3, the Cubs selected outfielder Jefferson Encarnacion. He's a 21-year-old left-handed outfielder from the Philadelphia Phillies system but hasn't played a game since 2019. In two season in 2018-19 in the Dominican Summer League, he slashed .247/.331/.316.
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