Chicago Cubs: Dillon Maples could be a major bullpen weapon down the stretch

In what could be a great story, Dillon Maples has a chance to come out of nowhere and be a significant contributor for the Chicago Cubs down the stretch.

I would not be surprised if the name Dillon Maples rings a bell to a lot of you. The Chicago Cubs drafted Maples in the 14th round of the 2011 draft. He was a big-time starting pitching prospect out of high school who the Cubs were able to sign with a $2.5 million signing bonus even though he was widely expected to go to North Carolina on a football scholarship.

This was significant because, after many years of drafting cluelessly, the Cubs finally figured out how to attack the draft the right way. Paying talented later-round, but tough to sign draft prospects big money was a common practice among savvy front offices at the time, and 2011 is when the Chicago Cubs finally started to capitalize.

That was the last draft under then-Cubs general manager Jim Hendry, who was fired late in the season. The Cubs hired Theo Epstein that next offseason and the rest is history.

While snagging Maples was a great move by Hendry and the Cubs, he never even came close to reaching his upside in the organization. That is just how the prospect game goes sometimes. Maples struggled with many injuries and never made it past A-ball. Heading into this season, Maples had a career ERA of 5.33. He has still been floating around the Cubs system, but I honestly hadn’t even thought of him for at least two years.

Incredible career turnaround

However, Maples has had a major resurgence this season as a reliever. He has not made a start since 2014, but for whatever reason, he is dominating minor league hitters this season.

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Maples started the year at Advanced-A Myrtle Beach, posting a 2.01 ERA (2.99 FIP) in 21 appearances. He struck out an impressive 34.4% of the batters he faced at Myrtle Beach (FanGraphs) and the Cubs rewarded him with a quick call up to Double-A.

Maples was even better at Double-A. His 3.29 ERA is not perfect, but his 1.68 FIP and ridiculous 43.1% strikeout rate show that he was much better than his ERA suggests. After only 12 appearances in Double-A, the Cubs aggressively moved Maples up again, sending him to Triple-A Iowa.

In his first Triple-A appearance on Tuesday, Maples retired all three batters that he faced, striking out two. Simply put, he is becoming an exciting short-inning reliever in the Chicago Cubs organization. And it is coming from completely out of nowhere.

Maples’ resurgence as a talented pitcher is remarkable. He had been forgotten by even the most obsessive Chicago Cubs fans. Now, he is dominating at the highest levels of the minor leagues.

An elite pitch

It seems that Maples’ success can primarily be contributed to his slider. According to Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago, the Cubs believe that Maples truly has an elite-level slider.

"“The Cubs see Maples as having an 80 slider on the 20-80 scouting scale and encouraged him to use that as his primary weapon.”"

An 80-grade pitch is extremely rare. Most of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball do not have a pitch that anybody would grade at an 80. Think of Aroldis Chapman‘s fastball, Clayton Kershaw‘s curveball or Zach Britton‘s sinker. Those are 80-grade pitches. The Cubs are not run by a bunch of dummies. If they think Maples’ slider is an 80-grade pitch, that is significant.

With his increased usage of an elite slider, Maples is becoming an extremely interesting bullpen arm. If he continues his success at Triple-A, it is likely that the Cubs give Maples a shot at the major league level.

Instead of sending Dylan Floro up and down over and over again, why wouldn’t they see what they have in Maples the next time the opportunity arises? His walks are a concern and we have no idea if he can get MLB hitters out. But the upside is undoubtedly there.

His strikeout numbers, in particular, are incredibly encouraging. Usually, when a guy dominates like that in the minor leagues, his stuff plays at the major league level. Can Dillon Maples become a valuable bullpen arm for the Chicago Cubs down the stretch?

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I would not call it likely, but it is certainly possible. Just a few short months ago, any of us would have laughed at anybody suggesting such a thing.