The next stop for Dillon Maples – a fading prospect so far off the grid that it wouldn’t have been surprising if the Cubs released him in spring training – will be Wrigley Field.
Now the Cubs are pushing Maples as part of the first wave of September call-ups that will arrive in time for Friday’s game against the Atlanta Braves, a stunning rise for a pitcher who began this season at advanced Class-A Myrtle Beach with a 5.33 career ERA and only 182.1 innings on his professional resume.
The Cubs are also preparing to add catcher Victor Caratini and infielder Mike Freeman – insurance policies with Willson Contreras (strained right hamstring) and Addison Russell (strained right foot) sidelined – and activate reliever Justin Grimm (right index finger infection) from the disabled list.
The Cubs will also reinforce their pitching staff again after Triple-A Iowa’s season ends on Labor Day.
The X-factor is Maples, whose worst pitch might be a 100-mph fastball. The right-hander finally stayed healthy and figured some things out during his age-25 season. Pitching backwards with an off-the-charts slider, he piled up 100 strikeouts (and 37 walks) in 63.1 innings at three different minor-league affiliates combined.
The Cubs bet on Maples in the 14th round of the 2011 draft, the last one overseen by former general manager Jim Hendry and the final class before a new labor deal imposed severe spending restrictions. Chairman Tom Ricketts authorized a spending spree on amateur talent that included first-round pick Javier Baez and the $2.5 million bonus that convinced Maples to decline his football scholarship to the University of North Carolina.