The Chicago Cubs continue to add more pitching and it is another left-hander joining the bullpen competition. According to Robert Murray, the Cubs are signing Ryan Borucki to a minor-league deal.
Borucki, 28, has pitched with the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners during his MLB career.
The lefty was drafted by the Blue Jays back in 2012, picked in the 15th round out of Mundelein High School in Illinois. Borucki stands at 6-foot-4, and delivers a fastball that averages 95mph the last couple seasons.
In 2022, Borucki tossed a total of 25.1 innings in 32 games with the Blue Jays and Mariners, although most of his time in the majors last season did come with Seattle. He was DFA’d at the end of May and was eventually traded by the Blue Jays to the Mariners in early June for minor leaguer Tyler Keenan.
Borucki struggled during his final few appearances with the Blue Jays before he was ultimately moved. It’s always tough to dive deep into the numbers for relief pitchers, especially in a small sample size, because one bad outing can really distort the overall stats. Borucki had a 3.86 ERA through his first seven appearances with the Blue Jays, but then gave up runs in three of his next four appearances.
Even his 4.26 ERA in 19 innings with the Mariners doesn’t look special, but Borucki had a 2.60 ERA in his first 17.1 innings before giving up four earned runs in his final two relief outings in August for Seattle. Unfortunately, Borucki’s season was cut short in 2022, as the Mariners placed him on the injured list on Aug. 9, with a left flexor strain.
Overall in his career, Borucki has a 4.45 ERA and 1.40 WHIP in 96 MLB games with the Blue Jays and Mariners. His best season came during the shortened 2020 season, when he pitched in 21 games and had a 2.70 ERA in 16.2 innings. During his minor league career, Borucki has a 3.29 ERA in 99 games, most of that time coming as a starting pitcher.
The left-hander did come up as a starting pitcher, making 17 starts during his rookie season in 2018. He was pretty solid in Toronto’s starting rotation that season, posting a 3.87 ERA in 97.2 innings. He continued to start in 2019, but he missed half of that season because of elbow inflammation. He eventually had surgery to remove bone spurs from his left arm in August of that season. Borucki didn’t make the team’s rotation to begin 2020, but was added to the bullpen later on and has been a reliever ever since.
