Still searching for bodies with attached arms at AAA Iowa, today the Chicago Cubs signed former big league righty Seth McClung to a minor league deal. The 31-year-old righty hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2009, when he was coming off some modestly effective time with the Milwaukee Brewers. Since then, he’s bounced around in the high minors, eventually winding up back in the Brewers’ organization this year. For their AAA team in the PCL, McClung went 2-13 with a 6.36 ERA and a 1.752 WHIP in 103.1 innings. He struck out some guys with consistency, but he also walked a ton of them. Obviously, it hasn’t been a great year for McClung.
I suspect this move has a whole lot more to do with making sure there is depth at AAA that allows the Cubs not to have to over-promote from AA, rather than being about trying to find a diamond in the rough. Casey Coleman left his start last night early with shoulder pain, so the Cubs were probably just looking for a minor league vet to fill-in if Coleman has to be shut down. The AAA season has only three weeks left.
In other words, the story here is probably more about Coleman’s shoulder than about the McClung signing.