Revolving Door in Cubs Bullpen Continues with Latest Demotion

This should actually be an upgrade as the Chicago Cubs will be adding a pitcher prior to their series opener Tuesday night against the Toronto Blue Jays. Right-handed reliever Nate Pearson, who was called up from Triple-A last week, has already been sent back to the minors.

Pearson pitched twice in his most recent stint with the Cubs and worked around some trouble to throw four shutout innings. He struck out one, walked one and gave up four hits in his four innings of work.

The Cubs are expecting to have Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad back soon. There's a chance that one of the two could take Pearson's spot on the active pitching staff tonight in Toronto.

(Previous Update)

The Chicago Cubs have to make a roster move before Tuesday night's game against the Cincinnati Reds after right-handed starting pitcher Michael Soroka injured his shoulder last night. A brutal blow to the Cubs, who were counting on Soroka to cover valuable innings in the final few months of the regular season. Now, the team is hoping the right-hander can return and not miss the rest of the year. Anyway, Soroka's roster spot has to be filled and the pitcher who showed up to Wrigley Field on Tuesday isn't exactly who fans wanted to see.

I'm not really sure there's any particular pitcher from Triple-A that would excite fans, especially out of the group of relievers, but the Cubs are once again giving Nate Pearson a chance in the majors.

Pearson, 28, was in the bullpen to begin the 2025 regular season, but he was ousted to the minors in mid-April after he was having trouble finding the strike zone and when he did Pearson was getting crushed. The Cubs called him up once before in June, but the audition went poorly as the righty gave up five earned runs in two innings of work against the Seattle Mariners.

The Cubs acquired Pearson in 2024, trading prospects Josh Rivera and Yohendrick Pinango to the Toronto Blue Jays. The hard-throwing pitcher was in his fourth season attempting to make an impact with the Blue Jays, but it was no longer working out. He posted a 5.63 ERA in 40 innings before the Cubs scooped him up and Pearson actually ended the 2024 season with good numbers in Chicago.

In 19 games with the Cubs, Pearson recorded a 2.73 ERA in 26.1 innings. He struck out 23 batters and only walked four. However, there was still one concerning aspect to Pearson's performance because despite the better results he allowed four home runs with the Cubs.

Well, Pearson's numbers regressed awfully quick and he gave up at least one run in six of his first eight appearances. Add in the June outing against the Mariners and Pearson has surrendered a run in seven of nine chances out of the bullpen this year. He wasn't even striking out batters at a decent rate anymore and in 10.2 total innings this year Pearson has more walks than strikeouts in the majors ( 6 K, 9 BB).

The positive is that Pearson has at least pitched well for the Iowa Cubs at Triple-A. The righty has a 2.27 ERA in 35.2 innings this year and has 43 strikeouts in 31 games. Still, those numbers don't really mean much when it comes to getting MLB hitters out. Pearson has to be able to throw strikes because once he fails to do so hitters have shown how easy it has been to lock in during favorable counts and hit Pearson like it's batting practice.

We'll see how long Pearson is even up for. It may not even matter if he performs well or not because the team will need a pitcher who can provide length after losing Soroka. Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad aren't too far off from returning from their respective rehab assignments.