This is about as anticlimactic – downright sad, actually – as a first ever call up to the big leagues can possibly be. Long-time Chicago Cubs prospect Brennen Davis has finally been “called up,” but the move is entirely procedural.
As you may recall, Davis recently suffered yet another injury, and this one was a season-ending ankle fracture. Because he’s already on the 40-man roster, the Cubs can clear that spot by moving Davis to the 60-day IL. To do that, officially, Davis first has to be “recalled” to the active roster, and then placed on the 60-day IL. So technically, Brennen Davis just got called up for the first time. But we won’t be seeing him play. He will accrue big league service time while he’s on the 60-day IL, and will also receive the pro-rated MLB minimum salary. So it’s kind of a classy move.
Though the Cubs aren’t doing it just to be classy. They are doing it so they can open up his spot on the 40-man and claim reliever Jimmy Herget:
The Cubs today claimed righty Jimmy Herget and optioned him to Triple-A Iowa.
To the extent you are familiar with Herget, it might be because he is a Pitching Ninja favorite, thanks to his extremely unique – can we just say weird? – delivery:
The one thing we know about the Cubs and their pitching proclivities: they love dudes who do something weird. They like to grab those guys, work with them a bit, and see if something clicks.
Herget, 31, has 155.0 innings of big league experience spread across parts of six seasons (3.54 ERA, too, thanks largely to an excellent 2022 season with the Angels). He is in his final minor league option year, but perhaps the Cubs wanted to get him in the organization now so that they could be the ones to make a decision on tendering him a contract after the season, and/or get a jump on a minor league signing.
More coming on Herget.