FanPost

Junichi Tazawa



The Cubs released veteran righty reliever Junichi Tazawa today per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com after the 32 year old posted solid numbers (9 K's in 5 2/3 innings pitched and no runs allowed) in Spring Training.

Teams have to pay a $100K retention bonus to veteran players on minor league contracts if they aren't released by today and then don't end up on the 40-man roster by Opening Day.

Junichi's reduced effectiveness over the last couple of seasons has correlated with sharp declines on the velocity on his two main pitches (4-seam fastball and splitter).

When he was at the height of his powers from 2012-2015 in Boston, he averaged 94 mph on his fastball and 88 mph on the splitter and had a 3.0 ERA and a 9.1 K/9. In 2016, his ERA ballooned to a career worse 4.17 and he followed up that season with ERAs of 5.69 and 7.07 respectively the next two seasons. By 2018, his fastball velocity was down to 92 MPH and his splitter was at 86 mph. (all numbers per BrooksBaseball.com). He also began to walk a lot more people contributing to the steep decline in the numbers as well (5.1 BB/9 in 2018).

Obviously, the 5 2/3 innings of good pitching in Spring Training has both the super small sample size and the 'it's just Spring Training' caveats attached to it. But for a team with problems in the bullpen, it's a tad surprising that the Cubs didn't keep him around because certainly the 100k retention bonus couldn't have factored in, right? Or are the Cubs that poor.

  • Cubs didn't want to take away Triple A innings from some other younger options in the bullpen?
  • He was reported to be low 90s on his fastball in spring training, so maybe the Cubs are buying the super small sample size explanation too and think that he'll continue to struggle across a larger sample size when it actually matters.
  • They have that much confidence in Brian Duensing and Brandon Kintzler....
There's also the possibility this is a misreport as Cubs.com reporter Jordan Bastian reports that Tazawa still has a locker in the Cubs locker room.


FanPosts are written by readers of Bleed Cubbie Blue, and as such do not reflect the views of SB Nation or Vox Media, nor is the content endorsed by SB Nation, Vox Media or Al Yellon, managing editor of Bleed Cubbie Blue or reviewed prior to posting.