Tseng Spotting

Wednesday was a pretty damn good day for Cubs pitching prospect, Jen-Ho Tseng.  First of all, the 22-year old right-hander's parent club blasted the Mets for a much-needed victory in the ever-tightening NL Central race.  Second of all, the 13th-ranked prospect in the North Siders' chain was in Chicago to accept his award as the Minor League Pitcher of the Year, after breaking out with a 13-4 record with a 2.54 ERA and 7.6 SO/9 across the AA and AAA levels.  Third of all, later on in the evening, it was announced that the Taiwanese hurler would be making his Major League debut on the next day in a spot start.  All in all, I'd say that Mr. Tseng had himself a pretty good day.

 However, the Thursday spot start didn't go quite as well for Jen-Ho. 

With all of the problems plaguing the Cubs' relievers, as of late (collective 5.30 ERA in the second half), Theo and crew decided that it'd be best to slot Mike Montgomery back into the bullpen - he had been starting in the place of the injured Jake Arrieta.  Seeing as Justin Wilson has been an absolute, dumpster fire bust, Justin Grimm has devolved into a shell of his former self, and Koji Uehara is constantly injured, MiMo (the ultimate utility pitcher) can only help solidify the struggling crew.

Many a scouting report compares Tseng to Kyle Hendricks.  Like "the Professor," Tseng doesn’t have overpowering stuff (his fastball rests in the low 90s); thus, the farmhand relies heavily on his control and his off-speed stuff and breaking.  Last night, in that surprise debut, opposing batters teed off when his cutter wasn't "cutting it."  Lasting just three innings and surrendering five runs, it all began when he walked Jose Reyes to lead off the game with a wild pitch.  "After that, I became more nervous," he admitted after the game.

Reunited and it feels so good. pic.twitter.com/3dhHRLhwbU

— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) September 14, 2017

Trying to mitigate those butterflies, the Cubs also started September call-up, "Staring" Taylor Davis, behind the dish.  The two had been a battery in Iowa for most of the season and you know how the pitcher-catcher relationship can affect a game.  Again, I understand the logic here, but is treating a crucial, late-season game like Spring Training really a good idea?  The guffaws were deafening when Davis dropped a perfect throw in a play at the plate, which put the team down 3-0 early.  Everything was shaping up to be a terrible night on the North Side.

No offense to their fans, but all I can say is thank goodness they were playing the injury-decimated Mets.  The Cubs offense would bail out the nervous-nelly as they clobbered the Metropolitans for the third straight night, 14-6.  Tseng, the youngest pitcher to take the mound for the Cubs since Sergio Mitre back in 2003, is still a raw commodity.

Despite the happy ending, this move had the potential to really foul up the Cubs' playoff chase.  Had the Cubs not overcame that early deficit, the Cardinals would be within two heading into this weekend's big series between the two clubs.  I see the logic behind the move, but was the risk worth the reward?   Besides that, no one expected the Cubs to baptize one of their top prospects by fire, thrusting them into the middle of a tight pennant race.  For an organization which so values proper development, it's truly not their modus operandi.  Though, it should be noted that Jen-Ho, signed after his performance in the 2013 WBC, needed to be added to the 40-man this off-season or risk being lost in the Rule 5 Draft (spoiler alert he would have been).

Anyway, to make room for the first Taiwanese pitcher in Cubs history, someone had to be kicked off of the 40-man roster.  That someone turned out to be another (once) highly touted pitching prospect:  Pierce Johnson.

Pierce, the first arm ever selected from the draft during the Theo Epstein era (2012 first round, 43rd overall), was once considered a future top of the rotation starter.  Unfortunately, as he climbed the ladder, injuries piled up and his control evaporated.  After a move to the bullpen seemed to stabilize things, Johnson did eventually make his Major League debut, earlier this summer.  Still just 26 and constantly racking up high K totals in the high minors (12.3 per 9, this year), I find it highly improbable that Johnson "pierces" through the waiver-wire unclaimed, especially considering that he still has an option year left.  Good luck to you, wherever you end up, "Flow Bro!"

As a quick side-note, with Pierce's likely departure from the franchise, the 2017 Cubs will have had three "one and done"-type players during the 2017 season; by that, I mean men who's Cubs career lasted all of one game.  Johnson struck out two in his only inning of MLB work against the Brewers on May 19th.  Meanwhile, Seth Frankoff twirled two frames against Colorado on June 9th and Jack Leathersich walked everyone in a disastrous partial inning against the Brew Crew on July 6th.

I don't know about you, but three "one and dones" in a single season seems like a lot to me.  On that note, I did center a whole post around guys who cameoed in one game for the "Lovable Losers," a couple of years back -  it's a niche topic that's always piqued my interest.  In the process of drafting this post, thanks to Baseball Reference, I've discovered that the last time this happened in franchise history was during the 1970 season.  That year, Roe Skidmore, Roger Metzger, and Jim Cosman all played Cub for a day.  Therefore, I guess my instinct was correct - it's not exactly a common occurrence.

Additionally, if Jen-Ho were to never make another appearance for the club, there hasn't been for or more since way back in 1912.  But, I think it's safe to say the youngin' will be back, at some point.

In the meantime, I'm just glad that Night Owl traded me this awesome, yellow parallel of Jen-Ho Tseng's 2015 Bowman card last spring, so that I have a nice card to add to my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection to represent the newest Cub.

All reports indicated that this spot start was a one-time thing, as far as 2017 goes.  That said, the door was left open for him to stick around in the bullpen, should he sufficiently impress in his first assignment.  I do not think that came to pass.  Furthermore, there's a Jake Arrieta and John Lackey shaped pair of holes in the rotation for next season, so this may have been an audition for 2018, as well.  Here's hoping that Seng delivers on all of his prospective promise; however, for now, the focus has to shift back to making it back to the playoffs, rather than developing young arms.