Cubs sign former White Sox pitcher Chris Flexen

Orlando Ramirez - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Tuesday, February 18 2025

We haven't even gotten to the game portion of Spring Training yet, and the Cubs are already dealing with their share of injuries. Not only are they taking things slow with Nico Hoerner due to offseason surgery, but Matt Shaw injured his oblique last week and has since been limited. Shaw appears to be on the mend and should be good to go by the end of the week, which is good for this team.

That is the good news on the injury front, as the Cubs are also dealing with some bad news. It comes in the form of pitchers Javier Assad and Brandon Birdsell. When it comes to Assad, he is dealing with an oblique injury of his own and, after experiencing some discomfort after a bullpen session, has been shut down for the time being.

As is the case with all oblique injuries, the timetable is unknown. Still, the Cubs can survive without Assad as Colin Rea, Jordan Wicks, Collin Poche, and several others are going to be battling it out for the final rotation spot. The news on Birdsell is even less promising, as he is dealing with a LAT injury and will most likely be shut down for a month.

That pushes his Spring back and will most likely hinder the start of the regular season, as he will most likely be on the IL to open the year. Birdsell is coming off an impressive season and was expected to be one of the anchors for the Iowa Cubs rotation. Knowing he would miss some time, the Cubs jumped back into the free agent market and inked right-hander Chris Flexen to a Minor League depth deal.

The 30-year-old righty has been around since 2017 and has pitched for five different organizations in that time frame. That included one season in Japan where Flexen went 8-4 with a 3.01 ERA, which took place during the COVID-shortened season. Apart from that, Flexen has had a rough go since breaking into the majors and posted a career mark of 30-49 with a 4.95 ERA.

That includes a miserable 2024 campaign with the White Sox, as Flexen was right in line with his career ERA of 4.95 but managed to go just 3-15 for the season. Flexen also endured a stretch where he went winless across 22 starts, which set an MLB record for most starts without a winning decision.

Take last season out of the equation, and Flexen was never a solid option to begin with, although he did have a strong two-year run with Seattle in 2021 and 2022 that saw him go 22-15 with a 3.66 ERA. That included a career-best 2021 season as Flexen finished the year with a 14-6 mark and a respectable 3.61 ERA.

While the addition of Flexen may be head-scratching for the casual fan, you can't argue with his pedigree as an experienced depth option, and given that this is only a Minor League deal, the Cubs can't go wrong. Not only will he slide into Birdsell's spot to begin the season, but should he bounce back from his recent struggles and prove he has something to offer, the Cubs are looking at an arm they could flip at the deadline for pitching needy teams.

As long as the Cubs rotation is healthy, Flexen will be the ninth or 10th option when it comes to starting games, but he will be in the middle of the Cubs AAA rotation. Armed with a fastball in the 93 MPH range, Flexen has always had command issues, sometimes making his change-up and curveball almost non-existent.

His MLB pedigree makes you wonder why he chose the Cubs on a Minor League deal instead of holding out for an MLB deal. His overall record may have had something to do with it, but his struggles weren't entirely his fault when you look at how he finished the season. Not only did Flexen post 11 quality starts in 2024, with the White Sox going 2-9 in those games, but he was very good in his final eight starts.

While 46 innings isn't a lot, considering it was eight starts, his 3.52 ERA in those starts, at the very least, showed he can still have some success if he finds the right situation. Look for this team to have some early-season opt-outs tied into it, and Flexen could hit free agency yet again if he gets off to a strong showing in 2025.