One of the major spring training competitions in Cubs camp heading into the 2023 season is the fifth starter battle between three right-handed pitchers and so far the veteran of the group Adrian Sampson is trending down.
Sampson, who joined the Cubs on a minor league deal in 2021 after pitching in Korea during the 2020 baseball season, has had a couple of Cactus League starts down in Arizona and the results haven't been pretty. The 31-year-old righty has been hit hard by the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers, allowing 10 earned runs in his two appearances.
It is only spring training and results don't matter all that much right now, but it is alarming seeing Sampson give up six home runs in only 4.1 innings, three apiece in each game. In 2022, Sampson allowed 10 home runs total in 104.1 innings pitching for the Cubs.
Sampson also pitched in a simulated game between his starts against the Giants and Rangers in the Cubs complex in Mesa, Ariz.
It's always tough judging what does and doesn't matter in spring training, especially when it comes to pitchers. Fans aren't privy to all the happenings behind the scenes, offseason programs and specific mechanics or pitches that pitchers are working on during games and in bullpen sessions.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Sampson has been trying to tweak some things on a few of his pitches.
Sampson has been working with pitching coach Tommy Hottovy to generate better movement separation between his sinker and fastball.
“I’m feeling great,” Sampson said. “This is a time for this to happen, so I’m just going to hunt the good stuff whenever I can at the situation. Hopefully the results come here and there, but I’ve still got time until the season starts.”
Sampson does have the benefit of time as Opening Day is still three weeks away, but early on in spring training he's trending down while Hayden Wesneski and Javier Assad look promising on the mound. This is a competition after all, so at some point the results will matter to the Cubs.
This isn't to say that Sampson should be ruled out after two spring training starts. He's in the mix for a reason, posting a 3.03 ERA in 139.2 innings with the Cubs during the last two seasons combined. Sampson has reportedly worked on adding velocity to his fastball this offseason, but at the end of the day he is a pitcher that has to heavily rely on generating soft contact and for his defense to be great behind him.
Even with his good results with the Cubs since 2021, Sampson has done it with a 17.6 strikeout rate, which ranks near the very bottom of the league.
We'll be talking about the Cubs fifth starter competition, as well as Edwin Rios looking great at the plate and a plethora of pitching prospects being nasty so far in spring training, live tonight on the Pinwheels And Ivy Podcast on YouTube at 8 p.m. CST.
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