{"id":78319,"date":"2024-06-28T19:54:41","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T23:54:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=78319"},"modified":"2024-06-28T19:54:41","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T23:54:41","slug":"chicago-cubs-shake-up-bullpen-jorge-lopez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/06\/28\/chicago-cubs-shake-up-bullpen-jorge-lopez\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs Shake Up Bullpen, Add Embattled Veteran"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Cubs announced a flurry of bullpen moves on Friday, with the highlight being the addition of reliever <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lopezjo02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jorge L\u00f3pez<\/a>\u00a0to the roster. Chicago also recalled\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/roberet01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ethan Roberts<\/a>, placed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thompke02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Keegan Thompson<\/a> on the injured list and designated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nittovi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vinny Nittoli<\/a> for assignment.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Cubs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Cubs<\/a> today recalled RHP Ethan Roberts and selected RHP Jorge L\u00f3pez from <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IowaCubs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@IowaCubs<\/a>. In corresponding moves, RHP Keegan Thompson has been placed on the 15-day IL with a right rib fracture (retroactive to June 27) and RHP Vinny Nittoli has been designated for assignment. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YxcMpkAYvV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/YxcMpkAYvV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Cubs\/status\/1806806944902168708?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 28, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Cubs bullpen has had some issues this season. Adding L\u00f3pez now will give Chicago&#8217;s front office an idea of just how many bullpen arms it needs to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/06\/22\/cubs-could-trade-nationals-closer-kyle-finnegan\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">add at the deadline<\/a>, if they add at all.<\/p>\n<h2>Chicago Cubs Shake Up Bullpen<\/h2>\n<h3>Cubs Add L\u00f3pez to Bullpen<\/h3>\n<p>L\u00f3pez will return to the majors following his <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/05\/30\/new-york-mets-designate-jorge-lopez-for-assignment\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">infamous meltdown and release<\/a> from the New York Mets in May. Soon after his release, the Cubs advantageously signed him to a minor league deal, hoping to get great value from a talented arm.<\/p>\n<p>In three outings with Chicago&#8217;s Triple-A affiliate, L\u00f3pez tossed 2 2\/3 innings with one strikeout and three hits. He last appeared in a big league game a little less than a month ago, so the Cubs likely didn&#8217;t care too much about results in the minors.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Jorge Lopez, on his ending with the Mets: \u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019m never going to do again, in my life\u2026Its emotions\u2026I\u2019ve been working on my mental health for a long time. That\u2019s my priority, to not show that anymore and give the best energy and best body language I can to the game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JesseRogersESPN\/status\/1806804245150404857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 28, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In Queens, L\u00f3pez started the season strong but faltered late in his short tenure. Overall, the 31-year-old tossed 26 1\/3 innings across 28 games and posted a 3.76 ERA (103 ERA+). He used a heavy sinker to generate a lot of ground balls, but did not strike as many batters out as the Mets would have liked. That said, the sinker could play well during the warm windy days in Wrigley and with a great defensive Cubs middle infield.<\/p>\n<h3>Ethan Roberts Returns<\/h3>\n<p>Roberts, 27 next week, will appear in the majors for the first time since 2022. The righty made his debut that season and struggled in nine outings. Across 7 2\/3 innings, he posted an 8.22 ERA (53 ERA+). Unfortunately, he missed all of 2023 and parts of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">WELCOME BACK ETHAN ROBERTS!<\/p>\n<p>A perfect inning for Ethan in his first I-Cub appearance since 2022! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ByM0FNCC9b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ByM0FNCC9b<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IowaCubs\/status\/1792260172200411473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Despite the injury and small-sample struggles, Roberts could make an impact on the big-league roster. In 13 1\/3 innings in Triple-A this season, Roberts allowed no runs and posted an 18:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Cubs will likely go slow with Roberts and use him in low-leverage, middle-relief situations.<\/p>\n<h3>Keegan Thompson to IL<\/h3>\n<p>The Cubs will be without Thompson for a couple of weeks due to a right rib fracture. It&#8217;s unclear how he suffered the injury or how long he will be out. No matter the status, losing Thompson is a big deal for the Cubs bullpen.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"et\">Keegan Thompson, Filth. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wSAR4UbY9B\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/wSAR4UbY9B<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PitchingNinja\/status\/1781415490260189530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Thompson, 29, has appeared in 13 games this season and pitched to a 3.50 ERA (121 ERA+). Though his walk rate is high, so are his strikeout and whiff rates. He picked up one save this season and likely was set to earn more high-leverage innings as the season went on.<\/p>\n<h3>Vinny Nittoli DFA&#8217;d<\/h3>\n<p>The Cubs signed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nittovi01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vinny Nittoli<\/a> to a major league deal and added him to the roster on Thursday. Just one day later, the Italian-American will head back to DFA waivers after being let go by the Oakland Athletics earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>Nittoli didn&#8217;t throw a pitch for the Cubs, but performed well in Oakland. He allowed two runs on eight hits with five strikeouts in eight innings of work. This followed a solid showing with Oakland&#8217;s Triple-A affiliate earlier this season (2.70 ERA in 23 \u2153 innings).<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s possible that the Cubs will hope Nittoli passes through waivers and can serve as bullpen depth in the minors. Chicago has placed 15 pitchers on the injured list this season, so the team clearly knows the importance of having depth.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Cubs announced a flurry of bullpen moves on Friday, with the highlight being the addition of reliever Jorge L\u00f3pez\u00a0to the roster. Chicago also recalled\u00a0Ethan Roberts, placed Keegan Thompson on the injured list and designated Vinny Nittoli for assignment. The #Cubs today recalled RHP Ethan Roberts and selected RHP Jorge L\u00f3pez from @IowaCubs. In [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4683,"featured_media":78334,"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":[5659,5932],"class_list":["post-78319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cubs","category-mlb","category-news","tag-jorge-lopez","tag-keegan-thompson"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78319","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\/4683"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}