Neris, 35, was signed to a one-year, $9M contract over the winter and has had an up-and-down season in what’ll now be his lone yr with the Cubs. His 3.89 earned run common is sound, however Neris has blown 5 of 25 save conditions on the season whereas sporting career-worst strikeout and stroll charges of 23.1 p.c and 13.3 p.c, respectively.
The extra outstanding issue within the determination to launch the right-hander, nevertheless, might be a vesting participant possibility that may’ve kicked in had Neris reached 60 appearances or 45 video games completed on the season. He’s solely appeared in 46 video games proper now and completed a sport 33 instances.
Neris thus would’ve wanted to pitch in 14 of Chicago’s remaining 37 video games — a 37 p.c utilization fee — or recorded the ultimate out in 12 of them, but when he’d completed so, he’d have secured a $9M participant possibility for the upcoming season. Given his shaky efficiency, the Cubs very doubtless weren’t focused on permitting that provision to be reached.
Whereas Neris hasn’t had his greatest season, he’s solely a yr faraway from a glowing 1.71 ERA in 68 1/3 frames for the Astros. That mark can be misleading, as benefited from a .219 common on balls in play and a 90.5 p.c strand fee that mixed to tamp down his earned run common. Metrics like FIP (3.83) and SIERA (3.89) had been extra bearish, however between Neris’ 28.2 p.c strikeout fee and 11.4 p.c stroll fee, he nonetheless had the makings of a strong all-around season.
Extra broadly, Neris’ monitor report from 2019-2023 on the entire is sort of spectacular. He pitched 297 1/3 innings between the Phillies and Astros, combining for a 3.12 ERA (3.33 SIERA), 30.2 p.c strikeout fee, 9.6 p.c stroll fee, 40.1 p.c grounder fee, 0.97 HR/9, 73 holds and 50 saves.
With Neris returning to the open market, he’ll now be out there for any staff to signal for the rest of the season. He’ll solely value his new membership the prorated league minimal for any time spent on the massive league roster/injured checklist. That sum could be subtracted from what the Cubs are paying him, however Chicago stays on the hook for the majority of his contract regardless.
And, as long as Neris indicators with a brand new group earlier than Sept. 1 — even on a minor league deal — he will be eligible for that staff’s postseason roster. (If he’s not on the 40-man on the time, he’d technically should be a substitute for an injured participant on the postseason roster, however such exceptions occur a number of instances fairly actually each season.)
As for Neely, he’ll be making his huge league debut the primary time he takes the mound in a Cubs uniform. The 24-year-old righty was the Yankees’ Eleventh-round choose in 2021 and has emerged as a respectable bullpen prospect, brandishing a prototypical fastball/slider mixture that’s helped him pitch to a mixed 2.42 ERA with a whopping 38 p.c strikeout fee in opposition to an 8.5 p.c stroll fee in 48 1/3 innings throughout the Double-A and Triple-A ranges with the Cubs and Yanks this yr.
MLB.com ranks Neely 18th amongst Chicago farmhands, whereas FanGraphs pegs him twenty second. The towering 6-foot-8, 245-pound Neely sits round 95 mph together with his heater — and certain appears quicker than that, given the extension his large body generates.
FanGraphs credit him with a plus (60-grade) slider, whereas MLB.com’s report tabs it as a real plus-plus (70-grade) pitch — noting the huge whiff and chase charges that Neely generated on the pitch late within the 2023 season.
Neely gained’t acquire a full yr of massive league service in 2024, after all, so the Cubs will management him for at the very least six full seasons following the present marketing campaign. Even when he’s within the majors for good, Neely can’t be arbitration-eligible till the 2027-2028 offseason and wouldn’t hit free company till the 2030-2031 offseason.
His contract is simply simply now being chosen to the 40-man roster, nevertheless, that means he’ll doubtless retain a full slate of three minor league possibility years past the present season. As such, future non-compulsory assignments may influence his arbitration and free-agent timelines.
For now, he’ll merely give attention to carrying his wonderful upper-minors work over to the massive leagues and establishing himself as a reputable main league bullpen weapon.
