The Cubs have selected the contract of recently acquired righty Jesus Tinoco, tweets Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. He’ll join their big league bullpen to start the season’s second half. Lefty Jordan Wicks, already out more than a month with an oblique strain, is being transferred from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injures list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Wicks will now be out until mid-August at the earliest.
Chicago acquired Tinoco from the Royals in exchange for cash earlier in the week. Presumably, given how quickly he’s been added to the big league roster, the right-hander had some form of opt-out or upward mobility clause in his contract that led to the swap.
Tinoco, 29, pitched 10 innings for the Rangers earlier this season and allowed nine runs before being designated for assignment. He rejected an outright assignment to Triple-A in favor of free agency, signed with the Royals a few days later, and now will find himself back in the majors with the Cubs less than a month after he became a free agent.
This year’s run with the Rangers obviously didn’t go how he’d hoped, but Tinoco tossed 20 2/3 innings of 2.18 ERA ball for Texas back in 2022 and has pitched to a 4.58 earned run average in 76 2/3 innings across parts of five seasons. He averages better than 96 mph on his fastball but doesn’t miss bats at a particularly high level; he’s fanned 18.1% of his big league opponents against an untenable 13.9% walk rate. He’s had a solid showing in 28 Triple-A innings this season, however, posting a 3.86 ERA with a huge 31.9% strikeout rate against a more manageable (but still higher than average) 9.5% walk rate.
The Cubs’ bullpen has been problematic for much of the 2024 season. They’re a middle-of-the-pack group in terms of ERA but have regularly faltered in high-leverage situations, due in no small part to possessing the third-highest walk rate in the majors, at 10.8%. Tinoco will give them a fresh arm, though his own history of command troubles doesn’t inspire much confidence that he’ll help the group cut down on its walk issues. If the Cubs plan to add to the roster between now and the July 30 trade deadline — they’re currently 3.5 games out of a Wild Card spot in the NL — bullpen help will likely be a focus.