Back in 2017, Theo Epstein was talking about Adbert Alzolay being the next big star for the Cubs. At 22, the right-hander had a 2.99 ERA with 108 strikeouts, making 22 starts between Single and Double-A.
After that breakout 2017 season, Epstein already had Alzolay on his mind thinking ahead to the Cubs starting rotation.
“Adbert Alzolay, I think is a really interesting high ceiling starting pitcher, who if he reaches his potential will someday be one of the five and closer to the 1 than the 5. He’s pitching in the Fall League right now and he’s an exciting young kid with high character and electric stuff who’s got a great starter kit and will pitch at the upper levels of the farm system next year. He finished the year at Double-A. He’s gonna probably start there, but see some time in Triple-A. Before it’s all said and done who knows you know, but I think factoring him into the sort of broad picture of our major-league depth makes sense for us.”
Unfortunately, the former top prospect in the Cubs minor league system had an injury-plagued 2018 season. He didn’t make his season debut until April 20, and after only eight starts he was shut down with a lat injury.
Remember, if it wasn’t for a postponed game last May, Alzolay was going to make his MLB debut against the Reds last year. But it wasn’t meant to be and Alzolay ended up pitching only 39.2 innings in 2018.
This year didn’t start any better, as the right-hander suffered a side injury in February that shut him down in spring training. Alzolay made his 2019 debut in a rehab start with Myrtle Beach on May 12. It was his first start since May 29, 2018. Then, he made his first start with the Iowa Cubs this season on May 17.
He still didn’t look right, allowing five earned runs in four innings in each of those two starts, but it’s time to get excited about Adbert Alzolay again.
In his last two starts combined, he’s allowed two earned runs, five hits, one walk, while striking out 15 in 11 innings. The one walk was an intentional free pass during his last outing on Monday, when he pitched six innings and only gave up two hits and a run, with nine strikeouts.
The Cubs obviously need bullpen help and if Alzolay continues to pitch the way that made him a top-100 prospect, then he could very well be a piece in the bullpen by the end of this season.
