Can Cubs’ upswing in pitching development continue without key executive?
An under-the-radar transaction from last winter was the Cubs losing director of pitching Craig Breslow to the Red Sox, where he became chief baseball officer.
Breslow, who joined the Cubs in 2019, was often credited for the dramatic turnaround in Cubs' pitching development, which helped push Justin Steele, Javier Assad, Adbert Alzolay and other homegrown hurlers to the majors. One key ingredient seemed to be the ability to teach players how to throw effective sliders and sweepers.
Without Breslow, how will the Cubs carry on? Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy tackled the subject before Thursday's game against the Phillies.
“No question ‘Bres’ had a lot of influence on a lot of the changes we made up and down this organization,” Hottovy said. “He helped me be better and challenged me every day. I think all of our coaches he helped improve.
“So I think to that note, he's kind of got a lasting impression on what we're doing here. Coaches that continue to work on the development side, there's a lot of thoughts Craig put in our head or challenged us with that we're continuing to implement here.”
Breslow, 44, and Hottovy, 42, are similarly aged, former relief pitchers, who both played for the Red Sox. But they were never teammates.
Breslow pitched for seven MLB teams in 13 years and did his best work with the Red Sox in 2013, winning a World Series with Jon Lester and David Ross. Hottovy spent 10 years playing pro baseball but had just 17 major-league appearances with the Red Sox and Royals. Hottovy first joined the Cubs coaching staff in 2014 as run prevention coordinator.
“A couple years ago, we had a very young development staff of young coaches in the minor leagues,” Hottovy said. “Had a lot of talent, didn't have a ton of experience, and now they're kind of coming into their own.
“You see them (teaching) a lot of the right things. It's a great group of guys to be a part of. I absolutely think Bres was an impactful piece to where we are. We've got to just keep rolling and keep finding ways to get better.”
Local Sox shine:
Libertyville''s Riley Gowens finished off a five-year run at the University of Illinois by posting a 6.30 ERA in 2023.
He clearly had some arm talent, because the Braves chose the right-hander in the ninth round of the draft that year. Gowens was traded to the White Sox in the Aaron Bummer deal and is on the move. He was promoted to Double-A Birmingham after posting a 4.35 ERA in 13 starts at Winston-Salem. …
Downers Grove North grad George Wolkow has shown no signs of cooling off. Through Wednesday, the White Sox' No. 14 prospect collected 2 hits in six of the last nine games for Class-A Kannapolis. Since June 19, the 6-foot-7 outfielder is hitting .347 with 4 home runs and a 1.151 OPS over 13 games.
Wolkow, 18, is just a year removed from high school graduation, so the Sox may take their time before moving him up a level, but he'll probably be moving up the prospect rankings.
Learning the clutch:
After a pair of RBI doubles on Wednesday, Cubs rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong is hitting .389 with two outs and runners in scoring position (7-for-20), according to baseball-reference.com. He was asked what he's learned about hitting in the time he's spent in the majors.
“This stuff's hard,” he said. “If you're a guy that likes to talk hitting, it's important to lean on people that you feel like you learn from. But it's a lot about the details and your routine and how you show up every day. It's always less about the swing, I guess.” …
Here's an interesting item from the Cubs minor leagues: Relief pitcher Frankie Scalzo Jr. threw 26 innings at Double-A Tennessee without allowing an earned run. Now at Triple-A Iowa, he's been touched up for a few runs. A 14th-round pick out of Grand Canyon in 2021, Scalzo's fastball averages about 94 mph, and he mixes a heavy dose of sliders and cutters.
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