The Chicago Cubs may not be done rummaging through the bargain bin for pitching help, and the latest name to surface is Michael Kelly.
Kelly was released by the Athletics earlier this week, and at first glance the numbers don’t exactly jump off the page. He’s sitting on a 16.20 ERA this season, with nine earned runs and 12 hits allowed in five innings. On that alone, it’s easy to see why the reaction would be skeptical.
But there’s another layer to this one. Over the last two seasons, Kelly has shown he can keep the ball from getting squared up, and he’s posted a 2.92 ERA in 70 appearances from 2024-25. Since the start of the 2024 campaign, he’s been especially good at limiting barrels and hard contact.
That doesn’t make him a late-inning answer for Chicago. It doesn’t turn him into the kind of shutdown reliever the Cubs can trust to slam the door. But he does fit the same general profile as recent additions like Jake Woodford and the since-DFAd Bryse Wilson: a veteran arm who might be able to give Craig Counsell’s bullpen a short burst of usefulness.
And that’s where the Cubs are right now. Without Daniel Palencia there to handle the ninth inning, the bullpen still lacks a clear lockdown option. It’s not a group you’d want to lean on as your only plan in a postseason series.
Still, if stopgap pickups like these - and maybe a few more to come - can help Jed Hoyer buy time, then Chicago can keep piecing things together with arms like Jacob Webb, Ryan Rolison and Trent Thornton. That might be enough to keep the Cubs afloat while they wait for bigger help.
Of course, that also depends on Hoyer making at least one major addition to the rotation before the trade deadline. Either way, the next few weeks are going to be interesting.
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Cubs Deadline Pressure Is Growing Around One Problem They Can't Escape
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The list of sidelined pitchers is long enough to shape how the Cubs think about July, from Justin Steele and Cade Horton to Hoby Milner and Daniel Palencia. Jameson Taillon is at least moving in the right direction after a rehab outing in which he worked 3 1/3 innings and 45 pitches, and he is expected to make one more rehab start before rejoining the rotation after the All-Star break. Even then, Chicago may have to manage him carefully early on, which only underscores why the deadline pressure around pitching keeps building. [Read more 🡒]