The Chicago Cubs have been working especially hard on bullpen acquisitions this offseason, clearly concerned with the depth of their relief corps after a disastrous first half of 2024.
Their recent effort to sign shutdown closer Tanner Scott to a multi-year deal was squashed by the powerhouse Los Angeles Dodgers, who also recently acquired a Cubs free agent backup closer option in Kirby Yates.
And while there are still some decent bullpen arms available on the free agent market and possibly via trade, there’s also the tried and true Cubs strategy of picking up low-risk/high-reward reclamation projects for their bullpen needs.
Enter right-handed pitcher Lou Trivino.
A Reclamation Project With An Upside
The 33-year-old Trivino hasn’t pitched since 2022. A failed rehabbing of an elbow injury prior to the 2023 season led to full-on Tommy John surgery early that season. Since then, he’s been in recovery mode, with only 11 innings pitched in a minor league rehab assignment for the New York Yankees at the end of the 2024 season.
Now, Trivino is back and looking for another shot at the majors.
Per Mets/Yankees reporter Pat Ragazzo, several teams are interested in see what he has, including the Cubs:
“Free agent RHP Lou Trivino threw a bullpen session at Cressey Sports Performance in Palm Beach in front of scouts this morning
Yankees, Dodgers, Guardians, Cubs, Giants, Reds, Royals were among those in attendance and teams came away impressed, I’m told
Got his sinker up to 94 mph and is already drawing interest from several teams.”
Who Is Lou Trivino?
When right, Trivino has proven himself to be a solid middle reliever, with a 3.86 career ERA in 285 major league games and he’s currently clocking just a tick below what was his normal velocity.
More appealing to the Cubs is that he’s a sinker ball pitcher who averages over one strikeout per inning. Plus, of course, he’ll come at a relative budget price when stacked up to other available bullpen pieces.
The Chicago Cubs Need For Bullpen Depth
Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has been openly critical of the depth of the bullpen he assembled going into the 2024 season– a weakness that contributed to the team’s early struggles and, ultimately, a big reason the team failed to contend for postseason play.
“Being self-critical, I feel like that’s something I didn’t do a good job of last offseason,” Hoyer told The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma back in October of last year. “When Adbert (Alzolay) struggled early, when (Héctor) Neris struggled early, when Julian (Merryweather) got hurt, we didn’t have the depth at that point that we needed…That’s something that we’ll certainly look to improve going forward. That hurt us early.
“At a critical moment when those guys struggled and were hurt early, we didn’t have enough depth in that moment, and that hurt us. That’s something we have to address.”
So far this offeason the Cubs have picked up potential bullpen pieces Eli Morgan and Cody Poteet via trade, along with free agents Caleb Thielbar and Colin Rea, as well as some other minor depth pieces.
The Cubs bullpen rebounded in the second half of the 2024 season, posting good enough numbers to rate alongside some of the better pens in the league. However, as Hoyer recognized last year, a team can never have too many pitching options.
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