Nelson Velazquez won’t be the only Chicago Cubs prospect coming up tomorrow for his big league debut. Per multiple reports, righty Matt Swarmer will be coming up to start game one against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Swarmer, 28, has pitched very well through 39.0 Triple-A innings this year, posting a 2.08 ERA on a 27.3% K rate, 9.1% BB rate, a 0.69 HR/9, and a .165 batting average against. In short, hitters simply aren’t hitting him this year. He is a fly-ball/strikeout type pitcher who relies on a funky over-the-top delivery with deception, so we’ll see how it translates in the big leagues, but you shouldn’t necessarily be expecting dominance as suggested by his ERA (eyeballing, it looks like there’s a decent bit of good luck baked in there on the BABIP (.213) and LOB (82.8%)).
But that is not to say that Swarmer couldn’t contribute some quality innings this year. I’m very interested to get a look at him.
Back in 2018, Swarmer was the Cubs’ minor league pitcher of the year after a great season split between High-A and Double-A, though the farm system was considerably thinner at the time. He reached Triple-A that next year in 2019, but didn’t find much success. Then you had 2020 lost to COVID, and in 2021, Swarmer was back at Double-A, dominating, before another unsuccessful bump to Triple-A.
Swarmer is not on the 40-man roster, so adding him to make the start will require a 40-man move. There are some guys who could be bumped and hit waivers without TOO MUCH consternation, so, for now, it may not be a huge issue. (The real 40-man crunch is going to come after the season ends.)