Injuries pave the way for Spring Training standout Gavin Hollowell. His elite strikeout rate and swing-and-miss stuff could soon bolster the Cubs' bullpen.
The Chicago Cubs have dealt with their fair share of bullpen injuries to start the season.
The Cubs currently have seven relievers on the injured list. Those relievers include Daniel Palencia, Hunter Harvey, Caleb Thielbar, Jordan Wicks, Porter Hodge, Ethan Roberts, and Riley Martin.
Those injuries have led the Cubs to lean on some unexpected bullpen arms. Ryan Rolison has thrown six scoreless innings, Corbin Martin has allowed one run across four innings, and Yacksel Ríos has gotten the opportunity to pitch in the big leagues again for the first time since 2023.
With all the injuries the team is currently dealing with in the bullpen, Spring Training standout Gavin Hollowell could get promoted to the big league roster very soon.
Hollowell was impressive across his seven innings of work this spring. He allowed only two runs across seven innings pitched (2.57 ERA) to go with three hits, two walks, and 12 strikeouts. His swing-and-miss stuff was on display throughout Cactus League play.
That has unsurprisingly continued into the regular season down at Triple-A Iowa.
Hollowell has a 2.57 ERA across seven innings pitched and currently owns a 41% whiff rate and a 45.2% strikeout rate. He also ranks in the 94th percentile or better in expected batting average against (.121), zone contact rate (69.1%), and swinging strike rate (18.9%).
Those are elite numbers to begin the year. He is striking out batters at a high rate and isn’t allowing much hard contact (36.4% hard-hit rate).
The only reason Hollowell has not been promoted yet is because of a recent concussion. The right-hander spent almost three weeks on the Minor League injured list. But he is finally healthy after dealing with that concussion earlier this month.
Hollowell was activated from the IL on April 25 and has thrown two scoreless innings since returning. He threw one scoreless inning with two strikeouts last Saturday and delivered 1 ⅓ shutout innings with one hit, one walk, and three strikeouts on Tuesday.
Now that the 28-year-old has recovered from his concussion, the Cubs could look to call him up in the near future. He has shown swing-and-miss ability dating back to Spring Training and has the potential to boost Chicago’s depleted bullpen.
Hollowell has struggled a bit in his Major League career to date. He has a career 5.79 ERA and 51 strikeouts across 51 ⅓ innings pitched and allowed five runs in 9 ⅓ innings of work last season.
However, it’s worth giving Hollowell another shot in the big leagues. His swing-and-miss stuff could play well in the later innings.