The Cubs are looking for a few more arms to sure up their bullpen for another deep playoff run. Yesterday we heard that the Cubs were likely to trade for Orioles closer Zach Britton, and today it's Phillies reliever Pat Neshek.
No surprise that the other three teams are linked to Neshek, but this is the first time someone has directly linked the Cubs to the Phillies side-armer. The 36-year-old Neshek is having a fantastic season in Philly, with a 1.14 ERA while registering an elite 9.84 K/9 that earned him his second trip to the All-Star game, the veteran right-hander is having arguable the best season of career. Neshek has an absolutely filthy delivery that allows him to hide the ball much longer than most pitchers, making it almost impossible to get a read on the pitch before it's in the catchers mitt. https://youtu.be/1_gpnKtZflY GOOD LORD! And that was Giancarlo Stanton whiffing hard against Neshek. The veteran reliever is a free agent after this season, so he would be likely just a rental, but adding Neshek to the bullpen along with Wade Davis and Carl Edwards would allow the Cubs to shorten games for the their starters in the playoffs. And while the Cubs would likely prefer to add a lefty-reliever like Britton or the Royals Mike Minor, neither right handed or left handed hitters see Neshek well, with a .182 BA against RHH and a .212 for LHH. The asking price for Neshek will depend on the market and how coveted he truly is. It was rumored the Neshek to the Red Sox was almost a done deal right around the All-Star game, but since then rumors have faded some. If the Cubs can make this deal without parting with Jeimer Candelario, I'll count that as win for the Cubs, but we shall see.
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