Betting on high-velocity upside and elite strikeout rates, Chicago’s pitching lab aims to refine the right-hander’s command after a whirlwind season.
Lost in the shuffle on a heartbreaking loss against the White Sox on Sunday, the Chicago Cubs claimed another pitcher off waivers later in the evening.
The Cubs claimed right-hander Christian Roa off waivers after he was designated for assignment by the Orioles last week. Roa becomes the third pitcher the front office has claimed off waivers over the past month.
The team claimed Doug Nikhazy from the White Sox on April 28 and claimed Luis Peralta from the Cardinals on May 3. Both pitchers are currently pitching at Triple-A Iowa. Nikhazy has a 9.60 ERA across four appearances, while Peralta has allowed zero earned runs in four innings.
The Cubs will now work to try to fix Roa. He has since been assigned to Iowa and looked good in his first appearance out of the bullpen. The right-hander threw one scoreless inning with one hit and one strikeout in a hold situation against Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday.
It has no doubt been an unpleasant start to the season for Roa.
He began the year in the Astros bullpen, where he had a 5.19 ERA, a 1.962 WHIP, and six strikeouts across 8 ⅔ innings pitched. Those struggles led to Roa being designated for assignment on April 21.
The Twins then claimed Roa off waivers. After allowing two runs across 2 ⅓ innings for Triple-A St. Paul, Minnesota designated him for assignment in early May. The Orioles eventually claimed him, but a four-run outing in his only appearance at Triple-A Norfolk resulted in him being designated for assignment for the third time this year.
Despite Roa's rough start to the season, the potential is still there for him to blossom into a quality bullpen arm. He’s only 27 years old and has shown that potential in the Minors in the past.
In 2022, Roa finished with a 3.86 ERA and 102 strikeouts across 91 combined innings pitched at High-A and Double-A. He had an impressive 26% strikeout rate that season and did a good job keeping the ball in the park (0.6 HR9).
Although Roa's ERA rose during the 2023 Minor League season (5.16 ERA), his strikeout upside was still on display. He struck out 170 batters across 120 ⅓ innings pitched and ended the year with an elite 31% strikeout rate.
With a solid fastball that averaged 96.5 mph last season, Roa could eventually be a reliable reliever. It’s all about controlling that fastball and getting more swings and misses on his offspeed stuff.
That’s ultimately why the Cubs claimed Roa. They likely feel the right-hander has stuff to work with, and he’ll now get to work closely with the team’s pitching lab.
