Cubs add former Brewers pitcher Adrian Houser |
While the Chicago Cubs may not have been as active at the deadline as many expected them to be, they have been very active on the Minor League front as they continue to make Minor League depth additions to their organization. Most of those additions will be nothing more than depth pieces this season and will most likely be off the roster by winter; you have those rare cases where a signing was made to fulfill a need this season and beyond.
In what could be one of the more intriguing minor league pickups of the season for the Cubs, RHP Adrian Houser has reached an agreement with the Cubs and has been sent to AAA Iowa. Given the need for starting pitching at both the AAA Iowa roster and potentially the MLB roster, adding Houser is an intriguing pickup and it reunites him with his former manager Craig Counsell. Drafted by the Houston Astros in the second round of the 2011 MLB draft, the 31-year-old Houser took a while to find his footing before getting his first real shot with the Brewers. Part of a very good starting rotation, Houser was primarily the team's No. 4 or No. 5 starter but did see time as the No. 3 option at times. Houser has posted a 32-39 career mark in the MLB with a respectable 4.21 ERA. That includes his rough showing with the Mets this season, where he went 1-5 and had an ERA approaching six. His best season came in 2021 when Houser won a career-high 10 games and posted a career-best 3.22 ERA. Clearly, the potential for him to be a reliable starter is there, but as has been the case for most of the Cubs this season, it all comes down to consistency. Prior to getting his shot in the MLB, Houser was serviceable at best in the Minors, posting a 25-37 record and an ERA of 4.17. From a stuff side of things, Houser has the stuff to be a starter in this league. His sinking fastball sits in the 94-96 MPH range and can touch 97 at times. He pairs that with a mid-80s slider and a change, giving him three pitches to work with anytime in the count. The biggest reason for his inconsistent success and overall struggles has always been command, as Houser can go from being locked into being unable to find the zone quickly. You can get away with that from time to time, but when that happens for long stretches, you become a liability on the mound, which is why the Mets parted ways with him this season. Adding Houser to the Cubs minor League system comes with a twist: He will now have an opportunity to join Counsell on the Northside should he prove he deserves that shot. Given that Iowa has virtually no pitching at this point in time, Houser immediately becomes the Ace of the Cubs staff, and he will look to finish out the 2024 season on a high note. Beyond this season is where the real question mark with Houser comes into play, as the Cubs will have some areas to address in their pitching rotation next season. Kyle Hendricks will most likely be hitting the free agent market or retiring, Jordan Wicks, Hayden Wesneski, and Ben Brown will be returning from injury, and Javier Assad seems more beneficial as a long reliever than an everyday starter. Throw in the possibility that Jameson Taillon could be dealt at some point in the offseason, and Houser has a great shot at proving his worth and potentially earning a look at the rotation next season. For that to happen, he will need to prove a lot of people wrong, as the 2024 season was miserable for him and the worst one of his professional career. However, if there was ever a team to fix him, it would be the Cubs, and Counsell is a big reason for that. He knows what Houser does best and how to get the most out of him as a pitcher. Those types of relationships and connections go a long way, and this could be one of the more surprising moves of the rest of the season.
