Cubs star prospect Hayden Wesneski leaves no doubt he deserves roster spot

Cubs pitching prospect Hayden Wesneski is proving he belongs in his latest Spring Training outing.

Hayden Wesneski is a 25-year-old starting pitcher in the Chicago Cubs system. Acquired in a trade last year from the New York Yankees, he is entering 2023 determined to prove he belongs in the big leagues.

If the performance he had on the mound in Monday’s game against the Mariners is any indication of what’s to come, Wesneski may be well on his way.

Hayden Wesneski deserves a spot on the Cubs Opening Day roster

Entering the season, Wesneski is ranked as the No. 5 prospect in the Cubs’ system per MLB.com’s latest rankings and is in the No. 8 spot per Baseball America’s latest prospect rankings. 

As things currently stand, there’s a spot for him in the starting rotation to open the regular season. Marcus Stroman, Justin Steele, Drew Smyly and the newly-signed Jameson Taillon are locks in the 1-4 spots, but right now the No. 5 spot seems to be an open competition.

FanGraphs’ Roster Resource has Adrian Sampson in the fifth spot in the rotation, but he has the ability to function as a long reliever/sixth starter if need be. In two years with the Cubs, Sampson has 24 starts and seven relief appearances.

For Wesneski, he made his big league debut last year for the Cubbies after he was acquired from the Yankees. In that time, he looked extremely impressive and held his composure nicely on the mound.

In six appearances (four starts), he went 3-2 with a 2.18 ERA and 3.20 FIP, good for a 190 ERA+. While the sample size is small (33 innings), he looked sharp in his first big-league action.

Over the course of his professional career, the product of Houston, Texas has always done well at limiting the longball and striking out batters at surprisingly high rates. Last year, his strikeout numbers were down in the minors but he continued to show impressive control and kept the ball in the ballpark with the best of them.