Cubs sign lefthanded reliever Michael Roth

The Cubs signed a pitcher Friday!

Oh. No, not that pitcher. This one:

Michael Roth was the Angels’ ninth-round pick in the 2012 draft. He pitched well enough, or impressed someone enough, to be in the big leagues the following year. He didn’t do all that well with the 2013 Angels (15 games, one start, 7.20 ERA, 1.500 WHIP), and eventually became an itinerant, pitching in the Indians, Giants, Rangers and Rays organizations over the last three seasons. He pitched in one game for the Rangers in 2016, and not very well.

Roth pitched for Great Britain in a World Baseball Classic qualifier in September 2016 against Israel (he qualified because his mother was born in the U.K.). He started one game and threw six solid innings, allowing six hits and one run, with no walks and four strikeouts.

Here’s Roth registering his first MLB strikeout [VIDEO] in his debut game, April 13, 2013.

He’s lefthanded, and sometimes lefthanders can be late bloomers. Roth turns 28 in about three weeks, and he’s a longshot to make the 25-man roster. He’ll likely be at Iowa as bullpen depth. His NRI means the Cubs now have 59 players scheduled to be in camp. There are currently 39 players on the 40-man roster, along with 20 players with non-roster invitations.

Oh, yes, Yu Darvish. There’s little news on the Darvish front, but you might be amused by this audio clip from new Cubs catcher Chris Gimenez:

As always, we await developments.