Chicago Cubs: Unlikely hero goes from two DFAs to a spot on a first place bullpen

The Chicago Cubs made headlines on January 7 when they pulled the trigger on a major trade with the Miami Marlins to bring over emerging powerhouse starting pitcher Edward Cabrera.

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Lost amid the Cabrera news, however, was a much smaller acquisition made by a Cubs front office focused on beefing up pitching depth.

On the same day Chicago added Cabrera, they also claimed lefty Ryan Rolison off waivers from the Chicago White Sox.

Rolison overshadowed by Cabrera addition

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The 28-year-old former Colorado Rockies first round draft pick had been having a rough offseason. He was traded from the Rockies to the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations in November. In December, he was DFA’d by the Braves and claimed off waivers by the White Sox. Then, in January, he was DFA’d by the White Sox and claimed off waivers by the Cubs, where he was immediately assigned to Triple-A Iowa. Last season with the Rockies, he posted an ugly 7.02 ERA in 31 games and 42.1 innings pitched.

He was picked up by the Cubs as part of a January-February stockpiling of arms that now seems absolutely prescient in the wake of the team’s wild rash of pitching injuries through the first five weeks of the season.

So far, Rolison, Corbin Martin, Charlie Barnes, Vince Velasquez, and Yacksel Rios have been called up from that emergency minor league stockpile and asked to give innings.

Rolison, however, has made the biggest impact among the call-ups.

Taking advantage of the opportunity

In the last two games, Cubs manager Craig Counsell called on him to shut down the Cincinnati Reds offense in order to facilitate a Cubs comeback win—which they did, on both occasions.

Since coming up to the big leagues, Rolison has a 3.12 ERA through 6 appearances and 8.2 innings pitched. All of his earned runs came in one poor outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 1.

Aside from that flat performance, he’s been lights out. On the year, he has 10 strikeouts in his 8.2 innings against only 2 walks.

“It’s not normal to have [8.2 innings] with this new team and have four of your appearances be in huge situations,” Counsell told reporters on Tuesday, after the Cubs’ seventh-straight victory and their eighteenth in twenty-one games. “I don’t think that’s normal, but that’s the situation he’s been put in.

“I think, in a lot of ways, Ryan might tell you he’s been waiting a long time for this opportunity. And sometimes that’s what making a career for yourself is about. You got a shot, you get an opportunity. We’ve talked a lot about when we’ve had these injuries, it’s going to create opportunities and somebody’s going to take advantage of them And Ryan’s done a heck off a job taking advantage of an opportunity.”

So far, this Rolison redemption story fits well with the narrative of the Cubs being the place to go for a down-on-his-luck pitcher in search of a rebirth. Hopefully for the both the Cubs and Rolison, the good news story keeps going through the season.

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Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-bullpen-ryan-rolisin-redemption-counsell/