Sean Gallagher

we’ve discussed him a bit in mrkupe’s thread.

His stuff has gotten better. I believe BA and several other places have suggested he could be a 2. He works a 2-seamer in the low-90’s, has his nasty curve back (the curve that was rated ahead of Rich Hill’s at one point before), works a slider, change on occasion, both decent, and tosses a 4-seamer that can run up there in the mid-90’s. Kid has a nice frame, delivery, and his control is back.

I’m a fan. I’m a Cubs fan certainly, but I’m more than willing to pan the Cubs system if it just isn’t there. I think people are sleeping on this kid. Not an ace, but a solid 2/3 type. Now, if he was starting this year, I don’t know if I’d expect greatness. I don’t think that’s reasonable. But a solid 4/5 guy this year isn’t unreasonable.

Now, I am quite peeved with this latest move. Bringing him up for short term, out of the pen? I’m not a fan. I’d much rather see him start in the minors than be a pen arm here. Some guys just aren’t as good in the pen as others, and my gut feeling, based off last year, is that Sean is in that boat. Furthermore, we had Cotts and Ascaino on the 40 man to eat up innings out of the pen if need be (and this was somewhat of a reactionary move with Rich Hill’s horrid outing yesterday forcing the pen usage). Add in that, Scott Eyre will likely be up by next week, and Gallagher will likely go back down. I don’t like this move at all.