CINCINNATI — Reliever Julian Merryweather never quite got out of his May funk, and the Cubs designated him for assignment Saturday. In a corresponding move, they selected right-hander Brooks Kriske from Triple-A.
“Unfortunately, Julian was just struggling a little bit,” manager Craig Counsell said before the Cubs’ 6-4 loss to the Reds. “And, frankly, we just couldn’t come up with answers as to how to reverse that. And so we made this move, and it’s a fresh arm today, and we’ll go from there.”
Merryweather allowed two runs in two-thirds of an inning Friday in the Cubs’ 13-6 victory against the Reds. That capped a stretch of seven outings in which Merryweather had a 14.29 ERA. He allowed runs in all but two of those appearances.
Going into the season, Merryweather was projected to be a high-leverage option out of the bullpen. He was coming off an injury-riddled 2024 season, which he finished on the injured list with tendinitis in his right knee. But in 2023, he was one of the Cubs’ most valuable back-end arms and had a career-best 3.38 ERA in 69 outings.
Merryweather was back to filling a similar role to begin the season. Through the first weekend of May, he had seven holds to go along with his 2.08 ERA. Then his performance dropped off.
“The bullpen, it’s a hard place, man,” Counsell said. “Those guys down there, all they can do is try to answer the bell as much as they can, put their best foot forward. There’s going to be bad outings; show up the next day and try to be available and put your best foot forward. And I think, largely, we’re doing a really good job of that.”
That has been especially true lately. The Cubs’ bullpen entered Saturday with the lowest ERA in the National League over the last week and a half (1.54), putting together scoreless performances in five of the team’s eight games in that span.
Kriske joins that mix after averaging 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings in the first two months of the Triple-A season.
“That’s kind of always been his calling card,” Counsell said.
This past offseason, the Cubs signed Kriske to a minor-league deal with an invitation to major-league spring training. He qualified for a series of uniform opt-out dates, including June 1, if he wasn’t added to the major-league roster. Kriske’s last major-league appearance was in June 2023.
On Saturday, he threw two scoreless innings in his Cubs debut.
Imanaga bullpen session scheduled
Left-hander Shota Imanaga (strained left hamstring) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Wednesday, Counsell said, for the first time since landing on the injured list almost three weeks ago. Imanaga successfully went through a “heavy day of throwing” Friday, plus agility drills in the outfield grass on Friday and Saturday.
Notes
Third baseman Matt Shaw led the Cubs with three hits. Including two Saturday, Shaw has doubled five times in as many games since being recalled Monday. His double in the ninth inning was the first one that he pulled to left field in that span.
† First baseman Justin Turner notched his first home run as a Cub, launching the solo shot 406 feet to left-center field for the team’s first run.