How Cubs view these 3 arms could impact search for pitching depth

CHICAGO -- Two seasons into Craig Counsell’s time in the managerial seat on the North Side, Cubs fans have undoubtedly grown accustomed to how he avoids labels with the team’s pitchers. Whether in the rotation or bullpen, Counsell leans on the phrase “out-getters” to sidestep traditional job titles.

“You know Counsell likes to be flexible and versatile with how he uses guys,” Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said in a recent phone conversation.

Fair enough, but there is still a desire to figure out how certain arms fit within the larger innings puzzle that each season presents. As things stand, the Cubs still have a need for adding multiple out-getters for the entire staff. That will be a focus in the upcoming Winter Meetings, where Chicago’s search for additional rotation and bullpen help will continue.

As the Cubs’ front office casts its nets for external reinforcements, there are three in-house arms without a clearly defined place on the pitching staff. Javier Assad, Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks each have history as starting pitchers, but they have also spent time within the relief corps. So how are the Cubs viewing them in relation to the depth chart?

“It’s always important to have those guys stretched out as starters,” Hottovy said. “And then we can make adjustments off that if we need to. … I don’t like to dive right into it and say a guy is X or a guy is Y, because there’s just so many different things that you can do.”

The Cubs are still looking for a starter to add to the front end of the rotation, whether that is via free agency (Michael King, Ranger Suárez, Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen top the list), the international market (Tatsuya Imai is a logical target) or the trade route (Edward Cabrera, Sandy Alcantara and Joe Ryan, among others, have been floated).

Prior to anyone new joining the fold, Chicago’s top four include Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, Shota Imanaga and Jameson Taillon. Righty Colin Rea was re-signed to a one-year deal (which includes a club option) as depth for the starting group and bullpen. Justin Steele is making his way back from left elbow surgery, but could return around May, barring any setbacks.

Behind those arms are Assad, Brown and Wicks. All three have at least one Minor League option, so the Cubs would have the ability to stash them with Triple-A Iowa as depth if they are not in the Opening Day roster picture. With multiple vacancies in the bullpen, however, there is also the chance that Chicago considers them as multi-inning relievers.

The 28-year-old Assad is eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason after moving between starting and relieving across the past four seasons for the Cubs. He was limited to 37 innings due to injury issues in 2025, but he still posted a solid 3.65 ERA (compared to a 3.43 ERA across his MLB career).

Per Statcast, Assad’s fastball velocity has ticked up as a reliever (93.3 mph) compared to as a starter (92.1 mph) in his career. He has turned in a 3.51 ERA with 7.1 strikeouts per nine innings as a starter (54 games) for the Cubs and logged a 3.05 ERA with 8.4 K/9 in his 24 relief appearances.

Brown -- acquired from the Phillies at the 2022 Trade Deadline -- relies mostly on a two-pitch mix (fastball and curveball), but he has developed a changeup with mixed results overall to date. There have been flashes of promise both as a starter and reliever in the past two seasons, but also some rough results (5.92 ERA overall in 106 1/3 innings in ‘25).

Last season, only relievers Daniel Palencia (586 times) and Brad Keller (341) had more fastballs than the 26-year-old Brown (146) recorded at at least 97 mph among Cubs pitchers, per Statcast. Brown had 121 strikeouts overall last season, including 40 against nine walks in 30 2/3 innings as a reliever.

“For me, I 100% see him as a starter,” Hottovy said. “He’s got the upside to be a really good power pitcher in the back end of the bullpen, but you don’t want to just crown that. You want that to kind of happen. Sometimes it happens, because it’s what the team needs. Sometimes it happens because the player shows you that’s his best role.”

Wicks, 26, made the Cubs’ Opening Day rotation in 2024 and was part of the bullpen for the Tokyo Series to begin the ‘25 campaign. The lefty (selected in the first round of the ‘21 Draft by the Cubs) only had eight appearances in the Majors last season, but he had a string of solid outings down the stretch.

Wicks also showed that he could handle multi-inning efforts in relief, while displaying an uptick in velocity, as well. The lefty averaged 92.5 mph with his heater for the Cubs in 2024, but he saw that climb to 94.4 mph in ‘25. That included topping 96 mph three times (maxing out at 97.1 mph) in a July 11 outing against the Yankees.

“That was some real stuff,” Hottovy said. “And he was like, ‘Wow, OK, I’m starting to understand what I need to do to be prepared to contribute in that type of role.’”