Jack Preston Neely...Spent his fifth professional season with Triple-A Iowa in 2025; made three rehab appearances at Single-A South Bend...Made his Major League debut on Aug. 21, 2024 vs. Detroit and pitched to a 9.00 ERA (six ER/6.0 IP) in six games with the Cubs...At 6-foot 8-inches tall, joined Luke Little, Kameron Loe, Chris Martin, Trevor Megill, Crhis Volstad and Brad Wieck as the tallest Cubs player in franchise history...Was acquired by Chicago from New York (AL) on July 30, 2024 with infielder Ben Cowles for right-handed pitcher Mark Leiter Jr...Is currently rated by MLB Pipeline as Chicago's No. 25 prospect...In 2023, was named a South Atlantic League Post Season All-Star and an MiLB.com Organizational All-Star...Was selected by the Yankees in the 11th round of the 2021 draft out of Ohio State University...Also attended Iowa Western Community College, the University of Texas and graduated from Winston Churchill High School in San Antonio.
2025
Spent the majority of the season with Triple-A Iowa, going 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA in 28 relief appearances...Tossed 30.1 innings...Pitched through June before missing two months with an injury...Made three rehab appearances with Single-A South Bend before rejoining Iowa on Sept. 7 and finished the season with the I-Cubs...Entered the season ranked Chicago's No. 18 prospect by MLB Pipeline.
2024
In 2024, Jack made his Major League debut, posting a 9.00 ERA (6 ER/6.0 IP) in six relief appearances with Chicago...Split the remainder of the season between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the Yankees system and Triple-A Iowa in the Cubs organization...In 39 Minor League games in 2024, went 1-1 with a 2.86 ERA (16 ER/50.1 IP), nine saves, 79 strikeouts and a 1.19 WHIP...Began the campaign with Somerset, posting a 2.61 ERA (9 ER/31.0 IP) and 51 strikeouts in 22 games...At the time of his promotion to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on June 19, led the Eastern League (min. 20 G) with a 39.2% strikeout rate, while his six saves were tied for second and his 2.61 ERA ranked ninth...Was traded to Chicago July 30 as part of a three-player deal involving RHP Mark Leiter Jr...From Aug. 1-20, allowed just one earned run in 6.2 IP with 13 strikeouts with the I-Cubs…his 13 strikeouts during the span were tied for the third-most among Triple-A pitchers...Had his contract selected Aug. 20 and made his Major League debut Aug. 21 vs. Detroit (4 ER/1.0 IP)...From Aug. 22-end of the season, held the opponent scoreless in four of five outings, posting a 3.60 ERA (2 ER/5.0 IP) during the run...Struck out at least one batter in all five of his appearances from Aug. 22-end of the season, totaling seven strikeouts during the span.
2023
Was named a South Atlantic League Postseason All-Star after going 5-3 with six saves and a 2.03 ERA (48.2IP, 27H, 15R/11ER, 17BB, 74K, 4HR) in 31 relief appearances with High-A Hudson Valley…also made 11 appearances with Double-A Somerset, going 1-2 with one save, a 2.55 ERA (17.2IP, 5ER) and 26K…his seven total saves were tied for the second-most among Yankees farmhands…also ranked tied for seventh in appearances…was named an Organization All-Star by MiLB.com.
2022
In his first full professional season, went 4-1 with seven saves, a 3.58 ERA (50.1IP, 20ER) and 87K in 38 relief appearances between Single-A Tampa and High-A Hudson Valley…his seven saves ranked third among Yankees farmhands and tied for fourth in the FSL.
2021
Made his professional debut with Single-A Tampa, appearing in two games (2.0 IP) allowing zero runs and striking out five batters...Was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 11th round of the MLB Draft out of Ohio State University.