The Cubs introduced this afternoon that the right-hander Jose Quas He was claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays. Cuas was designated for project earlier this week to make room for the suitable Ethan Roberts Within the membership’s 40-man roster. The transfer places Toronto’s 40-man roster at capability.
Coas, who will rejoice his thirtieth birthday later this week, made his main league debut with the Royals in 2022 however was traded to the Cubs for an outfielder. Nelson Velasquez On the commerce deadline final summer time. He was an honest heart fielder for the Royals throughout his time in Kansas Metropolis, pitching to a 4.08 ERA (106 ERA+) with a 4.41 FIP in 79 1/3 innings of labor for the membership between the 2022-23 seasons. Sadly for each Cuas and the Cubs, the wheels had been beginning to come off for the bullpen when he arrived in Chicago final 12 months.
Whereas his 3.04 ERA in 27 appearances with the Cubs final summer time was pretty strong, it got here with troubling peripherals. His strikeout charge dropped from 27.1% throughout his time with the Royals final 12 months to an alarming 19% in Chicago, whereas his stroll charge concurrently swelled from 10% in Kansas Metropolis all the way down to 14% within the North. Siders. Whereas a powerful 55.6% floor ball charge has allowed Cuas to maintain harm to a minimal, he’s not on the lookout for the a part of a high quality center reduction choice.
Issues took a worse flip for Kuas in 2024 when his floor ball charge dropped to simply 31%. Whereas his stroll charge dropped to a career-best 9.2%, that got here a minimum of partly because of opposing hitters to Cuas’ pitches with a 14.3% barrel charge and a forty five.2% hard-hit charge. Whereas Cuas’ strikeout charge has risen once more to a extra acceptable degree of 21.5% this 12 months, it hasn’t been sufficient to stop the right-hander from giving up 12 runs (11 earned) in 13 1/3 innings of labor for the Cubs this 12 months , leaving him with a 7.43 ERA and 5.99 FIP.
Regardless of these profound struggles throughout his time in Chicago, it isn’t laborious to see why the Blue Jays would wish to take an opportunity on the suitable facet. In any case, when Cuas’s arsenal is working properly, his sinker/slider mixture permits him to strike out a few quarter of the batters he faces whereas sustaining walks to a few 10% clip and deriving floor strikes on about half of his batted balls. That is actually the profile of a beneficial pitcher, though Coas hasn’t been capable of put all of it collectively on the large league degree but throughout his profession.
Even when he is not capable of attain that potential, the right-hander nonetheless supplies the Blue Jays with a minimum-salary choice reduction arm who may be moved from Triple-A to the majors as essential. He is a beneficial commodity for any bullpen, however particularly so for a Blue Jays outfielder who has posted a league-worst 4.83 FIP thus far within the 2024 marketing campaign. If the membership turns to Quaas sooner or later, he’ll seemingly be an element within the center reduction combine alongside the likes of him Zack pop And Genesis Cabrera.
