Cubs calling up top pitching prospect Brailyn Marquez at the perfect time
By Sean Sears
The Chicago Cubs have finally called up Brailyn Marquez, a hard-throwing lefty with a triple-digit heater.
Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein has felt Cubs fans clamoring for their top pitching prospect, 21-year-old LHP Brailyn Marquez, to be called up to the big league roster. Once both starters Jose Quintana and Tyler Chatwood went on the IL earlier this month, fans have been asking for Marquez to make an appearance. But it was clear the Cubs felt the lefty and his 100 mph heater needed some more work, having only pitched at high-A for the Cubs minor league affiliate.
But after facing the White Sox top 2020 draft pick Garrett Crochet Saturday night, who never threw a single pitch for a major league affiliate, strikeout three Cub batters in two innings of work it may have been enough to convince Epstein to pull the trigger.
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Epstein added a little more on why they decided to call up Marquez, saying there is a plan to work him into the postseason roster.
The Cubs could not have picked a better time for Marquez to come up and contribute, especially with the constant monitoring they have done in the Cubs taxi squad site in South Bend, IN – just an hour and a half away from Chicago.
The Cubs gave Marquez the largest signing bonus ($600,000) for a left-hander on the international market in 2015 because he already pushed his fastball into the low 90s at age 16 and his projectable frame portended more velocity in the future.
Marquez had a 3.99 ERA and averaged 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings last season between A and high-A last season, with a fastball that topped out at 102 mph. The lefty has a power curveball that can resemble more of a slider, making him near impossible to hit for left-handed hitters but righties have managed to get to him at times.
That could be the main reason the Cubs waited so long to call Marquez up, with the new three-batter minimum rule he could have to face multiple right-handed hitters, making his change-up an important pitch to refine.
After struggling to harness his electric fastball at the beginning of last year, he cut his walk rate from 5.8 per nine innings in his first 15 starts of 2019 to 1.9 in his final seven. While the Theo Epstein/Jed Hoyer administration has had trouble developing pitching prospects, Marquez is their most promising arm yet, and a potential frontline starter – and Cubs fans are justifiably amped up.