The Cubs acquired minor league right-hander Jake Wong from the Reds late last week, according to the transaction log at MLB.com. He is not on the 40-man roster. The 27-year-old made his organizational debut with Double-A Tennessee.
Wong entered the professional ranks as a third-round pick of the Giants in 2018. Cincinnati acquired him as the player to be named later in an offseason trade that sent Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol to San Francisco. The Reds called Wong up for one appearance at the end of June. He allowed three runs in as many innings working in relief against the Orioles. Cincinnati outrighted him off the 40-man roster not long after.
The Grand Canyon product struggled in the upper levels of the minors with Cincinnati. Wong pitched to a 5.17 ERA over 47 Double-A frames. He had a particularly tough time in Triple-A, where he allowed more than a run per inning while walking more hitters (18.1%) than he struck out (12.8%). That’s a season he’ll obviously look to put behind him. Wong had better numbers in High-A while a member of the San Francisco organization back in 2022, turning in a 4.52 ERA while punching out more than a quarter of opposing hitters.