{"id":104015,"date":"2025-07-12T22:48:45","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T02:48:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=104015"},"modified":"2025-07-12T22:48:45","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T02:48:45","slug":"cubs-recall-brooks-kriske-option-jordan-wicks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/12\/cubs-recall-brooks-kriske-option-jordan-wicks\/","title":{"rendered":"Cubs Recall Journeyman Pitcher, Option Struggling Lefty"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Earlier today, the Chicago Cubs announced that they <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">have<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> selected the contract of right-hander Brooks Kriske from Triple-A Iowa and sent struggling lefty <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wicksjo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jordan Wicks<\/a> down to Triple-A to replace him there.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_104036\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-104036\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-104036\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26627458_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26627458_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26627458_168400885_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26627458_168400885_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26627458_168400885_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26627458_168400885_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26627458_168400885_lowres.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-104036\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jul 11, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Jordan Wicks (36) pitches in the sixth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Brooks Kriske Recalled by Cubs; Jordan Wicks Optioned<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">This move isn&#8217;t <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">groundbreaking<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> or anything of that <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">sort<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, but it exemplifies the <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cubs&#8217; <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/06\/30\/june-cubs-mediocre-month-yet\/\" target=\"_self\">lack of pitching<\/a> right now. The Cubs most likely brought <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kriskbr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kriske<\/a> back up to the majors to add an extra arm before the All-Star break. Yesterday <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">against<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> the Yankees, Jordan Wicks threw 68 pitches in three innings of work, so he would not be available to them in this series. He was forced to do this due to another bullpen game because of injuries to <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the Cubs&#8217;<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> pitching. Although Wicks isn&#8217;t the ideal choice for a pitcher in a bullpen game, the Cubs didn&#8217;t have many other options. In 8 1\/3 innings this year, Wicks has a 9.72 ERA and a 2.400 WHIP. But, because of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/taillja01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-07-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jameson Taillon<\/a>&#8216;s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/04\/cubs-place-jameson-taillon-on-injured-list\/\" target=\"_self\">injury<\/a>, the Cubs were forced <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">to give <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Wicks a few innings.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Today&#8217;s roster updates presented by <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NuveenInv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NuveenInv<\/a>: <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QhiyUNymN0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/QhiyUNymN0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Cubs\/status\/1944055711199121772?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 12, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Brooks Kriske is a <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">31-year-old<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> who has played in the majors since 2020 but has only pitched 23 2\/3 career innings in MLB. This includes <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">brief<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> stints with the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, and now the Cubs. He has a career ERA of 10.27 with 26 strikeouts. Kriske has spent the majority of his career in the minors and has put up <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">substantial<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> numbers. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Since beginning his minor league career in 2016, he has <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">pitched<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> 254 innings, posting a 3.05 ERA and 1.142 WHIP. This year for the Cubs, he has pitched two scoreless innings in one appearance, coming on May 24 against the Cincinnati Reds. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He will <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">most<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> likely be used sparingly in <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the short term<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and then <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">possibly<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> optioned back to Triple-A Iowa or designated for assignment. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If the Cubs could get any amount of scoreless innings out of Kriske, his brief stint will be <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">successful<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Lily Smith\/The Register \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier today, the Chicago Cubs announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Brooks Kriske from Triple-A Iowa and sent struggling lefty Jordan Wicks down to Triple-A to replace him there. Brooks Kriske Recalled by Cubs; Jordan Wicks Optioned This move isn&#8217;t groundbreaking or anything of that sort, but it exemplifies the Cubs&#8217; lack [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5567,"featured_media":104035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1071,35],"tags":[3978,1060,5882],"class_list":["post-104015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cubs","category-mlb","category-news","tag-brooks-kriske","tag-jameson-taillon","tag-jordan-wicks"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5567"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104015"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104037,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104015\/revisions\/104037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}