When the Cubs brought in Jon Berti ahead of the 2025 season, it looked like a smart, low-risk move. A veteran utility man with wheels and versatility?
That’s the kind of depth every contender wants on its bench. And Berti wasn’t just a speed guy - he had some recent production to back it up.
In 2022, he led the National League with 41 stolen bases. A year later, he played 133 games for the Marlins, posted a .748 OPS, swiped 16 more bags, and racked up 2.2 bWAR.
Not bad for a player in his mid-30s.
At 35, Berti was expected to fill a backup role around the infield, give the Cubs some flexibility, and maybe steal a few bases when needed. Early on, that’s exactly what he did.
Through May 1, he was batting .306/.370/.347 - 15-for-49 with seven steals in 20 games. The power wasn’t there, but the on-base skills and speed were still very much alive.
Then, the wheels fell off.
After that hot start, Berti went ice cold at the plate. And with top prospect Matt Shaw getting called up from Triple-A Iowa, Berti’s playing time dried up fast.
From June 1 onward, he started just four games. And from May 2 until his release in August, he managed just six hits in 51 at-bats - a brutal .118/.151/.118 slash line with 11 strikeouts.
The bat had gone silent, and the Cubs had younger, more dynamic options waiting in the wings.
So, manager Craig Counsell got creative. With blowouts on the schedule and a bullpen to protect, he turned to Berti - not as a pinch-runner or defensive replacement, but as an emergency pitcher.
Yes, really.
Berti took the mound four times in July, becoming the Cubs’ go-to mop-up man in lopsided games:
- July 4: Pitched the ninth inning of an 11-3 win over the Cardinals
- July 8: Eighth inning of an 8-1 loss to the Twins
- July 21: Ninth inning of a 12-4 loss to the Royals
- July 25: Eighth inning of a 12-5 loss at the White Sox
Across those four outings, Berti logged 3.2 innings, gave up four hits, four walks, and three earned runs. Not exactly shutdown stuff, but considering he’s an infielder by trade, just getting through those innings without serious damage was a small victory.
The most memorable of those appearances came on July 4 against the Cardinals. The Cubs were cruising, up 11-0 in the ninth after launching a franchise-record eight home runs.
Counsell, looking to save his bullpen, handed the ball to Berti. But what seemed like a harmless decision nearly spiraled.
Berti gave up two hits and three walks, allowing three runs and putting two more runners in scoring position with two outs. One more hit, and Counsell might’ve had to get a reliever up in a game that had looked like a laugher.
Still, Berti gave fans a highlight in that inning with an acrobatic fielding play - a reminder that even when the pitching wasn’t pretty, the instincts were still there.
After that final pitching appearance on the South Side, Berti appeared in just four more games for the Cubs. He was released in August, and no team picked him up. That likely marks the end of his big league career.
But Berti’s time in the majors wasn’t without its moments. He’ll always have that 2022 season when he led the National League in steals.
And Cubs fans, even if they’d rather forget his short stint in Chicago, might remember how he used to torment them in a Marlins uniform. In 15 career games against the Cubs, Berti hit .319 with three homers - his best OPS against any team.
It’s a funny twist. The guy who once gave the Cubs fits ended his career trying to help them - not with his bat or legs, but with a few innings on the mound when the bullpen needed a breather. Baseball’s weird like that.