Here are the Cubs' 4 most intriguing pitching developments

MESA, Ariz. -- With roughly three weeks left until Opening Day, the Cubs’ pitching staff is taking shape. There is little to solve right now in terms of constructing that side of Chicago’s roster, but there are jumps in velocity, new pitches being developed and issues to iron out before the season arrives.

On Friday morning, Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy met with media near Field 1 at the team’s complex to discuss a wide array of topics. Here are four things that have jumped out on the pitching side of things so far this Spring Training.

1. Shota Imanaga's velocity
One of the more encouraging pieces of data to this point this spring has been the improvement in velocity that Imanaga has displayed. Hottovy even noted that members of the Japanese media contingent in camp asked if Imanaga might be throwing his fastball too hard right now.

“If I’m the player,” Hottovy said, “the first thing you want to do if you work on something is like, ‘I want to go test it. I want to see if it’s there.’ It’s almost like justification for all the work.”

So far this spring, Imanaga has averaged 92.8 mph with his fastball, per Statcast. This comes after the left-hander averaged 90.8 mph in the ‘25 regular season and 91.7 mph in his standout rookie year in ‘24. Now, velocity is not Imanaga’s calling card, but it is a clear sign that the pitcher’s offseason work after an injury-marred ‘25 is paying off.

“First of all, it gives him a ton of confidence,” Hottovy said. “What he felt at the end of the year last year was he just couldn’t do what he was trying to do, physically. … So one big goal for him this offseason was just getting stronger, getting back to that lower-body delivery that he knew he could get to.”

2. Edward Cabrera's fastball
There are no secrets when it comes to Cabrera’s signature changeup. He throws it hard and he is going to throw it a lot. What the Cubs are trying to learn this spring is when and how he can better utilize his high-octane fastball, which helps the changeup’s effectiveness.

That explains why Cabrera has thrown his four-seamer 30.3% of the time so far this spring – only slightly less than his changeup (31.6%). The righty used the pitch only 13% of the time during the ‘25 season, reducing its use from 27.7% in ‘24. With Cabrera being new to the Cubs and their rotation, Hottovy wants to see how everything looks and works before diving too deep into usage strategies for the year ahead.

“We can all sit and analyze usage in the past, pitches that got hit, pitches that played, all those things,” Hottovy said. “I want to see it with my own eyes. … I want to see how they play off each other. If there’s opportunities for us to help him play up the fastball by using it in certain situations or following certain sequences, then I want to try to help him find that.”

3. Ben Brown's sinker
Brown is building up as a starting pitcher, but the Cubs also know he can be a possible fit as a multi-inning weapon out of the bullpen. The righty leans on a high-velocity fastball and curveball, but has worked on developing a changeup in recent years. This spring, Brown has also been showing off a new sinker in an effort to further expand his arsenal.

“The development of the sinker has been outstanding,” Hottovy said. “That and the changeup, I’ve been really happy with how both of them have come along. We’ve seen more of the sinker, because he’s faced more righties, too. And we saw him feature it in [his spring outing] against the Royals, too. It was a pitch he really wanted to go into that game honing in on. It’s been good.”

4. Porter Hodge's command
Hodge came into camp as a comeback candidate for the Cubs’ bullpen, having been a standout late-inning arm as a rookie two seasons ago. An issue that came up last year – one impacted by injury setbacks – was trouble with command. Through three Cactus League outings, Hodge has walked seven and struck out five in two innings, giving up seven runs in the process.

“This offseason,” Hottovy said, “I thought he did a great job of just getting back to a clean, athletic delivery and just ripping his fastball over the plate and let the slider work off that. We saw it in the live BPs. He [had a] 75-80% strike rate. And then the game happens and you kind of get back in those bad habits. So, for Porter, to me, I love the work he puts in and our guys work their tails off. When they're on the mound, you’ve got to go out there and trust that it’s going to be there.”