Dominant Triple-A Outing by Forgotten Veteran Could Cause Cubs To Promote Him

The Chicago Cubs are expected to make some major moves when it comes to acquiring starting pitching next month as the MLB trade deadline approaches.

With an offense that has World Series capability when at its best, the Cubs need to get the rotation depth to a place where a deep run in October becomes possible.

Though Chicago will likely be aggressive in acquiring talent via trade, they made a signing earlier this season which went largely under the radar at the time, but could prove to have been valuable.

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When the Cubs signed veteran right-hander Kenta Maeda to a minor league deal in the middle of May after he was released by the Detroit Tigers, not many batted an eye.

Maeda was having the worst year of his career even out of the bullpen for the Tigers, so Detroit decided they would rather pay his $10 million salary to have him not be on the team than try to salvage any more value out of the deal.

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Though he has been unremarkable since arriving to Triple-A Iowa, Maeda had one of his best showings in a very long time on Sunday afternoon.

Getting the start, Maeda went seven innings and gave up just one hit, not allowing a run while striking out three and walking three.

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It was the first time Maeda has thrown seven scoreless innings in a game since the 2020 season, and really the first sign of life in 2025 from the 37-year-old since spring training.

After a very solid camp, Maeda was not able to get it done in the regular season. As a result, he is in the minor leagues with a different organization.

With Chicago in need of starting pitching, though, Maeda's performance at the very least makes him a name worth watching over the coming weeks.

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He still has a ton to prove since the outing only lowered his ERA on the year to a mark of 7.76 in seven starts along with a 1.655 WHIP.

One strong start is not going to lead to an instant promotion, but if Maeda can string a few more together, he could put himself in a position to where the Cubs have no choice but to at least consider calling him up.

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