The bear has signed a right-handed Ryan Jensen According to his transaction tracker on MLB.com, a minor league deal was reached. He was once in the twin system but was released a week ago. The bear also released the right-handed Phil BickfordAccording to his tracker.
Jensen, 27, was the Cubs’ first-round draft pick in 2019. On his minor league ladder, significant control issues seemed to get in the way. From 2019 to 2022, he threw 151 2/3 minor league innings with an average running rate of 4.04. He beat 26.3% of the batsmen and got more than half of the ground balls in the game, but he also took a walk at 13.1%.
Despite control issues, the Cubs gave him a 40-man position in November 2022 and don’t want him to pull out in the Rule 5 draft. Less than a year later, he was exempted from wires and claimed by sailors. He would then also go to the Marlins and twins for waiver claims until the twins passed the waiver last February.
Along the way, control issues have not improved. From early 2023 to now, he threw 149 2/3 of the minor league innings with a 5.35 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate and a lot of ground balls, but has a walking rate of 18.3%. The twins have obviously given up, but his original organization will play the role of the Flyer to see what happens.
Bickford, 29, signed a minor league contract with the Cubs in the offseason. He may have triggered the choice of the deal, as he has been the ruler this year. He threw 27 2/3 innings with a 2.60 ERA, 34% strikeout rate and 5.7% walking rate.
His track record also has some great major league jobs. In the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he threw 112 1/3 innings in the majors with a strikeout rate of 3.85 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate and 7.3% walking rate. In 2023, he is still punching holes, but his walking rate soars to 12.8%. Last year, he had only a brief MLB look, but it was not going well. He threw 8 1/3 innings for the Yankees with an 8.64 ERA.
Photo courtesy of Chris Tilley, image
