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Hey, hey! Pedro Strop is coming back.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon was on his weekly radio segment on 670 The Score Tuesday with Laurence Holmes and revealed that Strop was indeed returning to the bullpen in time for the start of the team’s series against the Rockies.
The Cubs had a somewhat difficult decision to make in the bullpen. With Strop coming back, right-hander Dillon Maples is the odd-man out.
The electric and sometimes (most of the time) wild Maples will be optioned back to Triple-A Iowa.
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And yes I’ve said several times in the past that I just didn’t get the hype around Maples. Obviously his stuff is great, making MLB hitters look like softball beer league players swinging at air, but his control has always been the biggest question mark.
Before 2019, Maples pitched 10.2 innings with the Cubs in 2017-18. In that small sample size the righty walked 11 and hit two batters. He also struck out 20 batters.
This season in two stints with the Cubs, Maples’ walk rate still is ridiculously high, allowing nine free passes in 5.2 innings. But again, his nasty stuff has also produced 10 strikeouts.
I’m ready to ride the Dillon Maples rollercoaster, but for the meantime it’s closed. We’ll see him up again this year and hey, in seven appearances this season he’s only allowed one hit and no runs.
Basically the new version of Carlos Mármol and he was pretty damn special for a few years even though he gave Cubs fans heart attacks almost every time out.
And Pedro Strop is officially back!
