Time is Ticking for Struggling Cubs Reliever

So, it's looking more and more like Julian Merryweather's 2023 season was a fluke and maybe other Cubs fans came to that realization a lot quicker than I did because holy shit has he been awful. Time has to be ticking for Merryweather, who has now given up at least one run in six of his last 10 appearances.

Maybe it's a stint on the injured list because Merryweather's fastball velocity has gone down a few ticks during the past month and with it so has his effectiveness. Merryweather began the 2025 season with a 1.74 ERA through April 23. The righty had 10 strikeouts and 3 walks, having only given up two earned runs in 10.1 innings.

However, beginning with his extra-innings appearance against the Phillies back on April 27, Merryweather has more walks than strikeouts, (8/5) an 8.10 ERA and hasn't pitched well in any situation that Craig Counsell has put him in. He's gone from a high-leverage guy to pitching when the Cubs are trailing or way ahead and Merryweather is still getting drilled out there.

On Friday night the Cubs were behind 4-2 in the fifth inning when Counsell handed the ball over to Merryweather. The right-handed pitcher immediately gave up a run after facing two batters and then allowed another run with two outs that extended Cincinnati's lead to four.

Out of the five balls that were put in play by Reds hitters against Merryweather, four of them were line drives with an exit velocity of at least 94mph.

Back in 2023, Merryweather had the best season in his career, throwing 72 innings in 69 appearances. He recorded a 3.38 ERA and struck out 98 batters. He was really good and I keep thinking he can pitch to that level, but it doesn't appear as though he's healthy enough or maybe just not good enough. Which yeah, was pretty much how Merryweather's career started with the Blue Jays.

Merryweather is set to earn a salary of $1.225 million this season, so if the Cubs don't think his struggles are health related, then he's certainly a DFA candidate. The Cubs cannot afford to keep throwing him out there and hoping he figures it out. These issues have lasted for a month and the team has plenty of other options to turn to at Triple-A.

So yeah, time is ticking for Merryweather on the Cubs.