The right-hander is building his pitch count in Triple-A, positioning himself to replace a struggling Jordan Wicks. After reaching 78 pitches, Assad’s return could stabilize the North Siders' starting five.
Javier Assad is continuing to build up as a starter in the minors.
The Chicago Cubs recently optioned Assad down to Triple-A to build him up again. After the Cubs called him up on April 7 to be a starter, the right-hander eventually transitioned into a bullpen role before his demotion on May 17.
Assad has now spent the last two weeks with the Iowa Cubs. He continues to build up his pitch count and has made two starts for the Triple-A club since being optioned.
He allowed five runs on six hits with one strikeout across 3 ⅔ innings against the Memphis Redbirds on May 22 and then threw 4 ⅓ innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts against the Indianapolis Indians on Thursday.
Assad showed some improvements in his most recent outing earlier this week. He built his pitch count up to 78 pitches and departed after one out in the bottom of the fifth inning. It was encouraging to see the right-hander limit some damage on the mound.
However, Assad’s metrics down in the minors are a bit concerning. His expected batting average against (.324), expected slugging (.427), whiff rate (17.4%), zone-contact rate (91.2%), and swinging strike rate (7.1%) all rank extremely poorly.
Those metrics, though, shouldn’t change the fact that he should be up with the Major League club. Assad is an upgrade over current No. 5 starter Jordan Wicks for that final rotation spot.
Wicks got absolutely plummeted in his first start of the season on Tuesday. He gave up eight runs on nine hits with five strikeouts across 4 ⅓ innings pitched against the Pirates. The left-hander is set to make another start on Sunday, but that should be his final outing for the time being.
Assad has shown to be a quality starter with the Cubs in the past. He threw 5 ⅔ scoreless innings with three strikeouts against the Rays on April 7 and threw 5 ⅔ innings of one-run ball with three strikeouts against the Mets on April 19.
While the Mexican native will have his occasional rough outings, Assad is an upgrade over Wicks in Chicago's rotation. This is the same pitcher who had a combined 3.43 ERA in his first four Major League seasons from 2022 to 2025.
With Assad now built up to 78 pitches, there’s a chance he takes Wicks' spot the next turn through the rotation.
