According to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers, the Chicago Cubs are calling up veteran right-hander Chris Flexen from Triple-A Iowa. No corresponding roster move has been announced, but it’s reportedly unrelated to Shota Imanaga leaving Tuesday’s start against the Pittsburgh Pirates with leg cramping.
As Rogers notes, if he’s not added to the 26-man roster by May 1, he becomes a free agent. This move adds another arm that, if nothing else, brings intriguing upside to the mix. He recently changed his arm slot and has looked like a dramatically different pitcher than the guy who posted a 4.95 ERA and 1.519 WHIP last year with the Chicago White Sox.
Cubs are hoping depth pieces like Chris Flexen can be contributors
He’s just a handful of years removed from being a key member of the Seattle Mariners’ rotation. In 2021, Flexen was a 3.4 bWAR player, tossing a career-high 179 2/3 innings of 3.61 ERA ball and he seems much closer to that type of pitcher this year at Iowa (five starts, 1.16 ERA). Given the loss of Justin Steele for the season and Javier Assad’s recent injury setback, he’s a low-risk option for the Cubs as they turn the page to May.
Flexen deployed a five-pitch arsenal with the Sox last season, leaning heavily on a four-seamer that sat below 90 MPH and a cutter. He complemented that with a change-up, curve ball and slider – but the four-seam and cutter accounted for over 63 percent of his offerings in 2024.
Again, the good news is the move isn’t related to Imanaga’s injury. Flexen will also need to be added to the 40-man, but there’s a pretty clear path there. Assad can head to the 60-day IL with his oblique strain and Tom Cosgrove, another depth piece in the staff picture, could be sent to Iowa, leaving Craig Counsell with Caleb Thielbar and recent addition Drew Pomeranz from the left side.
We’ll keep an eye on all that as it plays out and will update this post as we learn more. But, for now, another piece who seems to have re-invented himself a bit after hitting some choppy waters in recent years. It’s a move that carries pretty much no risk – so let’s see how it plays out.