Righty Reliever Trey Wingenter Arrives at Wrigley, Corresponding Move Pending

Righty Trey Wingenter, who most of you probably didn’t even realize was part of the organization, arrived at Wrigley Wednesday afternoon ahead of the series finale against the Pirates. Wingenter was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox a couple days after the trade deadline, but the news understandably didn’t get a lot of fanfare at the time. The 30-year-old started the season with the Tigers on a minor league deal, then was traded to Boston according to a clause in his deal that required Detroit to move him if he wasn’t on their 40-man roster.

The 6-foot-7 reliever is already on the Cubs’ 40-man, so his recall will not require them to cut anyone loose. They will, however, need to clear a spot on the active roster via option or IL move. That could mean Justin Steele going on the shelf after being scratched from Tuesday’s start due to elbow soreness. An MRI revealed no structural damage and Steele is confident he’ll return by the end of the season, but there’s no need to pitch short-handed now that Jordan Wicks is back.

Wingenter, 30, was drafted by the Padres in the 17th round back in 2015 and debuted with them three years later. He bounced around a bit for two seasons, then underwent elbow reconstruction in July of 2020 and missed almost three full seasons. His only competitive work from 2020-22 consisted of three innings for the Pads’ complex team.

Strikeouts have never been a problem for the hard thrower, who has averaged 12.49 K/9 over nearly 90 MLB innings thanks to a 96 mph heater and wipeout slider. But as you can probably guess, he’s walked way more batters than has been acceptable. If nothing else, he gives the Cubs another hard-throwing bullpen arm as they look to either bridge over an IL stint or replace another reliever who needs a break.