Cubs Sign RHP Jeff Brigham to Minors Deal

In their never-ending search for organizational depth, the Cubs have signed righty Jeff Brigham to a minor league deal. Brigham is not young, sitting just over a month from his 34th birthday, but he’s put up decent strikeout numbers over parts of six seasons with the Marlins, Mets, and Diamondbacks. The righty has never pitched as many as 38 innings in a season, and the last 86 of his 90 career appearances have come in relief.

Originally drafted by the Dodgers out of Washington as a fourth-rounder in 2014, Brigham debuted with Miami four years later and has bounced around over the last few years. He pitched only one inning in 2020 due to the pandemic and missed all of ’21 due to an undisclosed injury. Brigham has struck out 124 batters in just shy of 121 innings, but he has also walked 56 and served up 23 homers.

His fastball sits around 95 mph, complemented by a 90 mph cutter and an 82 mph sweeper sinker. The heater has really never been a productive offering for him, while the breaking balls have been very inconsistent. This is a risk-free move for pitching depth and should not be viewed as anything more than that, but maybe Brigham can catch lightning in a bottle at Triple-A.