The Chicago Cubs may have taken another hit to their pitching depth, and this one comes in the middle of a strong run from Dominick Reid in the Arizona Fall League.
The right-hander had been building momentum in Mesa after missing nearly three months during the regular season with right shoulder impingement. Over four AFL starts, Reid struck out 17 batters in 13 innings, and in his first three outings he posted a 1.50 ERA across 12 frames while missing bats at a high clip.
That progress was interrupted in his latest appearance for the Mesa Solar Sox. Reid managed just one inning, threw only 18 strikes in 40 pitches and was tagged for three runs on three walks and two hits. The most concerning part of the outing came when he exited with the team trainer.
Rich Biesterfeld, who covers Cubs-related action in Arizona, reported the development from the scene.
Reid’s injury history has already slowed his rise once this season. The Cubs drafted him in the third round of the 2025 MLB Draft out of Abilene Christian University, and he did not make his pro debut until this year. When he finally got going, he moved from Low-A to High-A, then paused again after the shoulder issue.
He returned in September and looked sharp right away, throwing four shutout innings in his High-A debut for South Bend. His first minor-league season ended with a 3.86 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and a 23.7% strikeout rate.
MLB.com highlighted Reid’s six-pitch mix last week: four-seamer, sinker, cutter, curveball, changeup and sweeper, with Statcast logging the sweeper as a slider. The fastball sits at 93-94, and while his arm angle and extension can create deception, the pitch isn’t overpowering. Still, the report noted that Reid has been working on the sweeper as a potential weapon, especially against right-handed hitters.
That pitch has been a clear focal point. Reid has thrown it almost exclusively to righties, and in his two outings with Statcast data it has landed in the zone just 16.7 percent of the time. Even so, the cutter - which comes in about 10 mph harder - has produced seven whiffs on 12 swings, showing there’s still real swing-and-miss in his arsenal.
For now, though, the bigger story is whether Reid’s latest exit is another setback for a promising Cubs arm.
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