Hey, remember Jake Woodford? Well, maybe not because you blocked out his awful appearance with the Chicago Cubs a few weeks ago, or maybe you do remember him because of that terrible game against the Cincinnati Reds. I still don’t understand why the right-handed pitcher keeps getting opportunities with MLB teams, but I wouldn’t expect him to stay long in his second stint with the Cubs either.
Prior to Wednesday night’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cubs designated left-handed pitcher Andrew Wantz for assignment to make room for Woodford, who was let go earlier in July but then re-signed on a minor league deal.
Wantz, who came up from Triple-A on Monday when the Cubs DFA’d Jameson Taillon, tossed two innings in Tuesday’s 10-2 win over the Cardinals.
The Cubs are pretty much shuffling the bullpen here as we approach the trade deadline. Woodford is at least a fresh arm that will be available to pitch if needed. A rescheduled game on Aug. 6 against the Toronto Blue Jays means the Cubs are currently in a stretch of 17 straight games without a day off from July 24 to Aug. 9.
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Not expecting much out of Woodford, who is pretty much a placeholder in the bullpen until the Cubs activate pitchers off the injured list. The first pitcher expected to come back from an injury is veteran lefty Hoby Milner, who actually went down in June because he needed to undergo an emergency appendectomy.
Milner made his first rehab appearance with the Iowa Cubs at Triple-A on Wednesday. He threw 11 pitches, nine for strikes, and retired the side in order during his one inning of work. Wouldn’t be surprised if Milner is back this weekend at Wrigley Field, ready to face the New York Yankees.
As for Woodford, it seems like the Cubs outsmarted themselves on this one, and I’m not talking about today’s roster move. No, the Cubs signed Woodford to an MLB deal on the 4th of July after letting go of Bryse Wilson, who actually has shown recent success and is now pitching well for the Milwaukee Brewers. Meanwhile, Woodford is pretty much looking at getting DFA’d in the next few days and hasn’t been good, nor has he shown signs of possibly being good since 2022.
I simply do not understand the Jake Woodford Cubs era.
