Chicago Cubs Pitcher Wesneski is Learning How to Take His Lumps at the MLB Level

Chicago Cubs prospect Hayden Wesneski gave up his first runs at the MLB level on Sunday Night Baseball as he adapts to the new learning curve.

Author:
Luke Parrish
Publish date:
Sep 15, 2022 1:00 PM EDT

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Chicago Cubs

In his second outing with the Chicago Cubs, Hayden Wesneski was given a dose of reality. He was brilliant in his debut with 5.0 innings pitched with eight strikeouts in a win over the Reds last week.

Unfortunately for the right-hander, the San Francisco Giants got the bats going a bit on Sunday Night Baseball. He allowed four hits and three earned runs across 3.2 innings in relief of Wade Miley.

David Ross has made it clear that he wants Wesneski to have an extended role out of the bullpen this season. In two relief appearances at the MLB level, the Sam Houston State product has tossed 8.2 innings, bringing his season total to 119.0 innings across all levels.

To Wesneski's credit, he has shown a lot of MLB stuff in his two appearances thus far. Regardless of the outcomes, he has given Chicago something to build on moving forward and that's the best outcome given how this season has unfolded.

David Ross has made some questionable decisions with his bullpen since he took over as manager of the Cubs. After the trade deadline this season, that has been even more relevant as the North Siders have blown several late leads.

At least with the 12th-ranked prospect in the organization, there is a method to the madness. This is much larger than this season and the results of these games ultimately do not matter, but his development does.

This is likely an audition for a spot in the starting rotation next season for the pitcher acquired from the New York Yankees in the Scott Effross trade at the deadline. If all goes well down the stretch, Wesneski will join Keegan Thompson and Justin Steele as relievers-turned-starters in the rotation next season.

The hope is that Chicago will create a strong rotation over the next few months while continuing the trend of building a bullpen from scratch. In an ideal world, Thompson will return to the bullpen to make room for Wesneski and a free agent to slide into starting roles.