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Cubs Busy Beating Bushes for Pitchers
7/5 UPDATE #2:
Casey Coleman has indeed been assigned to AAA Iowa and LHP James Buckelew has been assigned to AA Tennessee.
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7-5 UPDATE #1:
Although it was reported in milb.com transactions, RHP Zach Morton was - NOT - signed by the Cubs and assigned to Eugene. The pitcher assigned to Eugene was Cubs 2018 8th round draft pick Zach Mort. Kudos to TCR's baseballfan67 for this.
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After signing 14 pitchers selected in last month's MLB First-Year Player Draft and a couple of high-profile 2018-19 J-2 IFA pitchers, the Cubs have also added three pitchers with previous professional experience (including some MLB time) to their minor league system in the last 48 hours:
The contract of veteran RHP Casey Coleman was purchased from the Sugar Land Skeeters (Atlantic League). He has not yet been assigned to a Cubs minor league affiliate (physical pending). Now 31, Coleman was the Cubs 15th round draft pick out of Florida Gulf Coast in 2008 and pitched for the Cubs at the MLB level off-and-on in 2010-12 before being released in 2014 and signing with the Kansas City Royals (and he pitched briefly in MLB with them that season). He spent 2015-17 in AAA with SEA, TB, and HOU, and I last saw him at Cubs Minor League Camp this past March trying to win a job with the Chinatrust Brothers (CPBL), but apparently he didn't get the gig and remained in the U. S. and signed with the Skeeters. Coleman was 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA and 10/38 BB/K and 24 hits allowed in 37.1 IP (7 games - 6 GS) for Sugar Land so far in 2018. He last pitched (6.1 IP) on June 28th, so he is in game-shape and he is stretched-out, and so he could very well go directly into the AAA Iowa Cubs starting rotation (if that's what the Cubs need him to do).
The contract of 26-year old LHP James Buckelew was purchased from the Kansas City T-Bones (American Association). He has not yet been assigned to a Cubs minor league affiliate (physical pending). The 45th round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins in 2010 out of Collins Hill HS - Suwanee, GA (he did not sign), Buckelew spent four years at Belmont University before signing with the Miami Marlins in 2014 as a NDFA. Buckelew was released by the Marlins this past May after spending parts of five different seasons in the Miami system (he was at AA Jacksonville when he was released, after starting the 2018 season at AAA New Orleans). He has posted a 2-1 record with an unimpressive 6.75 ERA and 24 hits and 13/17 BB/K in 18.2 IP (six games - four GS) so far for the T-Bones, but apparently the Cubs scout who saw him pitch for KC must have liked him enough to "turn him in" (recommend him).
LHP Ryan Lawlor was signed as a second-contract minor league free-agent and has been assigned to South Bend. The 24-year old Lawlor was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 8th round of the 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the U. of Georgia, and was released by the Braves at the end of Minor League Camp this past March. Lawlor is the second pitcher selected by the Braves in the 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft to be signed or acquired by the Cubs in the past two months. (The contract of RHP Dalton Geekie was purchased by the Cubs from Lake Erie of the Frontier League on May 17th). Lawlor was a lefty "swing-man" in the Braves system and he apparently had enough stuff to strike out 61 in 47.1 IP (albeit with a 1.37 WHIP) at Lo-A in 2017.
Coleman has an outside shot at pitching for the Cubs in 2018 (but that's presuming he can get hitters out in AAA), Buckelew would seem to fit as a lefty reliever at AA, and Lawlor has already been assigned to South Bend where he will almost certainly work out of the bullpen (the Cubs farm system has a dearth of LHRP).
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