He’s only been with the team for two weeks, and although Trent Thornton has a total of four appearances and five innings pitched, the right-hander is emerging as a new weapon in the Chicago Cubs bullpen. The 32-year-old pitcher once again was called upon to get out of a jam by Craig Counsell and Thornton not only answered the call, he shut down the White Sox in Friday night’s series opener on the South Side of Chicago.
Edward Cabrera couldn’t lock down a 4-1 lead in the fifth inning, starting the inning with two walks that both scored. The Cubs’ starter wasn’t able to get through the frame and was replaced by lefty Ryan Rolison, who retired Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami. However, Rolison served up a solo home run to begin the sixth and got into more trouble, giving up a single to Colson Montgomery and walking Chase Meidroth.
That led to Thornton’s appearance. Tied at four with two runners on base and nobody out, the righty came out of the bullpen and escaped the inning without allowing a run to score. Randal Grichuk hit a double-play ball, but because the Cubs had him shifted as a dead-pull hitter, Dansby Swanson took a bit longer to get the feed from Nico Hoerner at second base. So, that set up a chance for left-handed hitting outfielder Jarred Kelenic to come through with runners at the corners with one out.
Thornton struck out Kelenic, fooling him with a 1-2 curveball for a called third strike. Then, Tristan Peters lined out to right field for the third out. Counsell trusted Thornton to continue in the seventh inning after the Cubs took a 6-4 lead. The reliever got two more ground ball outs and a strikeout, retiring the White Sox in order.
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He didn’t get a save, but the two scoreless innings earned Thornton his second win of the season, and his previous victory resembled Friday night’s outing. In his Cubs’ debut, Thornton entered in the 10th inning against the Cincinnati Reds, who had runners at first and second with no outs in a tied game. He got a double play ball and another grounder to escape that jam before Michael Busch’s walk-off walk.
You may still be skeptical because of the sample size, but Thornton has the guts to make a pitch, trust his stuff, and get results. In five innings, he has given up no runs, three hits, one walk, while striking out three, and he’s also produced a 64.3% ground ball rate.
The injuries to the starting rotation have created an issue in what was already a depleted bullpen. Yes, in the long term, what Ben Brown is doing and what seems to be sustainable success as a starter are awesome; however, now that he’s been forced into the rotation, the Cubs do not have a shutdown reliever who can come in before Daniel Palencia.
So, these outings from Thornton are huge for the Cubs. They need to find answers fast on guys who can be trusted in high-leverage spots, and right now he appears to be winning over Counsell’s trust.
The Cubs have hit on at least one minor league signing for the bullpen for several consecutive years, so let’s hope Thornton becomes the latest success story.
