Scouting Notes on the Rehabbing Cubs and Diamondbacks Pitchers

I had Tuesday’s Cubs-Diamondbacks Bridge League recreation circled on the calendar. Chicago’s massive league squad is on the town this week (for a sequence that has turn into spicy), and I believed this meant the group’s lately drafted pitchers may throw in entrance of touring Cubs brass who might see their new expertise within the morning earlier than heading to Chase Discipline for the second recreation of that sequence. “Bridge League,” for these unfamiliar, is a reasonably casual, month-long slate of backfield video games that happen on the spring coaching complexes between the tip of the Arizona and Florida Complicated League schedules and the tip of the opposite minor seasons in September. It largely exists to offer newly drafted gamers a gentle touchdown spot to start out their professional careers.

However as an alternative of a primary glimpse at Cade Townsend or Carson Jasa, I bumped into a number of, big-name rehabbers from each golf equipment: Justin Steele (who threw a dwell BP) and Ben Brown of the Cubs, and Corbin Burnes and Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks. Here’s a rundown of my day and the way these guys seemed, as the 2 groups eagerly await reinforcements throughout their respective playoff pushes.

I ventured to Sloan Park manner, manner early (which isn’t sometimes my type) as a result of I feared that the warmth (it was 114 levels right here) may set off an unannounced change to the beginning time of the sport. Although first pitch hadn’t been altered, and I sat within the stadium studying Chuck Klosterman’s new ebook for some time, arriving once I did allowed me to run into Steele’s dwell BP. Steele, an All-Star in 2023, hasn’t pitched in affiliated ball in almost 17 months. He had elbow surgical procedure in April 2025 after which suffered a setback (flexor tendon pressure) early this 12 months, which has stored him shelved all season. The Cubs arrange a display and moveable TrackMan unit behind residence plate earlier than he warmed up. Craig Counsell and different workforce personnel filed in behind the display as he acquired able to throw.

Steele threw two innings towards Cubs Complicated hitters who had been carrying shorts and Catapult wearable tech, with a 10ish-minute break in between. I didn’t movie any of Steele’s dwell BP on my cellphone, nor did I shoot it with FanGraphs’ excessive pace digital camera, “Slowmie,” because it felt like unhealthy kind to topic a man at this stage of his rehab to the panopticon. Steele labored within the 90-91 mph vary with pure reduce at instances, and the often nasty slider. He gave up some flush contact in his first inning, and fewer of it within the second. His physique seemed a bit extra trim than it sometimes does, he appeared to deal with the warmth effectively, and fortunately signed autographs on the mouth of the workforce tunnel as he left the sphere. This man is fairly clearly within the early levels of his rehab, and Counsell downplayed the pace at which he may return. The misleading reduce motion on Steele’s heater and his slider high quality would, on the very least, be good suits in an October bullpen position.

As Steele rested between his innings, Burnes arrived on the ballpark (forward of the Diamondbacks’ minor leaguers) and carried his bag into the highway dugout. He and Counsell, his former supervisor with the Brewers, shared pleasantries on the sphere earlier than Burnes stretched and warmed up with Aramis Garcia. When Burnes acquired on the mound for the underside of the primary inning, he instantly observed the ball he had been given was not a Main League baseball, however one of many minor league balls with barely larger seams and totally different type of tack to it, and the umpire needed to fetch a batch of massive league ones from the dugout to be used.

Burnes threw 24 pitches within the recreation earlier than ending up within the bullpen, his reducing fastball peaking at 93 mph, per Diamondbacks personnel in attendance (there was no dwell knowledge feed obtainable for this recreation). He folded a number of totally different pitches into his lone inning, largely curveballs and sliders. Although his supply isn’t at present as explosive as it’s when he’s working at his peak, Burnes seemed snug and athletic when he needed to dash off the mound to cowl first base, and his breaking ball high quality was nonetheless fairly good. The drop in velocity in comparison with his peak (when he was sitting 96) and his current wholesome seasons (when he sat 94-95) is regarding, however Arizona’s pitching workers wants no matter heat our bodies it could actually get. Burnes advised the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro on the concourse as he left the ballpark that his subsequent outing was possible going to be a real rehab begin at an affiliate, and that he hopes to return to the large leagues shortly thereafter in a short-outing capability. He’s within the second 12 months of a six-year, $210 million deal that runs by means of 2030, and clearly the best way his arm energy traits the remainder of this season and into early subsequent are going to inform us quite a bit about whether or not that contract is salvageable.

Although Burnes was instantly attuned to the refined variations within the minor league ball, Brown was both appropriately given massive league baseballs, or didn’t know or care that he wasn’t. He seemed completely wholesome, sitting 95-96 mph and touching 97 throughout two innings of labor, whereas flashing his nasty, trademark spike breaking ball. He additionally threw some sinking, right-on-right changeups. His command wasn’t particularly effective, however he bullied the strike zone sufficient to coast by means of his innings of labor towards Arizona’s Complicated youngsters. Right here is considered one of them:

Not lengthy after publication, it was reported that on the finish of Brown’s outing, he skilled signs in his neck, which in keeping with Counsell worsened because the day went on. This setback leaves his availability for the stretch run in some doubt.

Lastly, Zac Gallen adopted Burnes and threw 45 pitches throughout three innings. Like Brown, Gallen’s stuff seemed sharp. He was as much as 94, largely 92-93 on the radar gun I used to be peeking at, and his cutters and curveballs each had late motion. He carved throughout his first inning of labor, after which his command waned throughout parts of his different two innings, because the temperature climbed to ranges no massive league pitcher would ever really must pitch in. Right here is Gallen’s greatest inning:

The Diamondbacks shifted Gallen from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL on the commerce deadline to make room on their 40-man roster for the acquisition of Lars Nootbaar. That designation means Gallen is eligible to return on September 7, just a little later than he most likely must get totally prepared, primarily based on how he seemed Tuesday.

As Gallen left the ballpark, Piecoro and I requested him about his outing. Right here’s what he mentioned about how he felt total:

“It brings me again to once I first signed and I used to be within the GCL and it’s scorching and you realize, you simply need to play baseball, so it was enjoyable. In the present day was the primary time I used finger indicators in a recreation in I don’t understand how lengthy. In order that was taking most of my consideration, making an attempt to not cross up A.G. and hit the umpire again there. However yeah, it was good. It’s simply good to get to work, and issues had been getting higher as the sport went on. Actually pleased with the cutter right now, and with the changeup. Fastball… getting the vert again could be good. I feel, all in all, day.”

Lastly, I requested Gallen about one thing very particular and bizarre that I’ve been excited by for some time — his elbow pores and skin. After I first shot Gallen on high-speed video, his weenus (the pores and skin on the tip of 1’s elbow) was flapping far and wide. He was one of many very first pitchers I filmed with Slowmie, and I assumed that different pitchers would have related physiology. That hasn’t been the case.

“You’re the primary particular person to ask me this on the report, I feel,” he mentioned. “I’ve had individuals ship me a message on social media or no matter, however sure I’ve seen it. I do not know why. I want to assume I’ve acquired numerous pores and skin and have a quick arm, that’s what I inform myself. However yeah I do not know. I’ve been tagged in a handful of images with my weenus, basically, and I assume I’ve quite a bit.”

Because the three of us stretched out our weenuses (weeni?) to check, Gallen mentioned: “I imply, I’m pulling it good.”

“From years of throwing I might think about it stretches out bit,” I mentioned. “Like a pizza dough.”

“I might guess,” Gallen mentioned. “I actually do not know, I simply know I’ve been tagged and folks have been like, ‘Ew, that’s disgusting.’ I didn’t assume I’d be getting physique shamed at 30.”