Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s only spring training, but it’s more how Caleb Kilian looked in his debut for the Cubs rather than the end results (that were also great by the way) that had to be encouraging for him and the team. Remember, a year ago Kilian was one of the more hyped up pitching prospects in the Cubs farm system, but out of seemingly nowhere, the right-hander lost his ability to consistently throw strikes and his 2022 season ended up being a mess.
We recently learned in The Athletic, that Kilian pitched through knee tendinitis last season, which definitely affected his command throughout the year. Kilian made his MLB debut against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 4, and although his first big-league start was fine, giving up three runs in five innings, there were signs that something was off.
Kilian only made three starts for the Cubs before he was sent back to Triple-A and in his first 11.1 MLB innings, Kilian walked 12 batters. That was a 21.4 percent walk rate in MLB and although his command issues weren’t to that extreme at Triple-A, Kilian did post a 12.3 percent walk rate in 106.2 innings with the Iowa Cubs in 2022. This wasn’t a case of a young pitcher attempting to improve his control. We’re talking about a pitcher who was known for having great command of the strike zone.
In the 116.1 minor league innings before 2022, Kilian had a 3.4 percent walk rate. So, just like that, it nearly tripled in one season. Because of his struggles last year and more pitchers gaining attention during the offseason, Kilian has been somewhat forgotten about heading into the 2023 season. However, if the knee issues are behind him, then there’s no doubt the Cubs will bring him back up to the majors this year.
Monday was a great first step for Kilian, as he threw two perfect innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks. And again, it wasn’t just that he retired all six batters he faced, Kilian didn’t have work too hard, he wasn’t falling behind hitters and he limited his pitch count by throwing a lot of strikes. Overall, 29 pitches, 20 for strikes.
Kilian finished with two strikeouts, both of the swinging variety and against solid MLB players. The first came against Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on a 96mph fastball and the second against Evan Longoria on a 95mph sinker.
I get it, it is only one, two-inning outing in spring training, but I’m staying positive here because we’ve seen Kilian look dominant before and although some call it an excuse, playing through an injury does impact how you perform on the field. The persistent knee issue in 2022, did appear to mess with Kilian’s mechanics on the mound, which led to the subpar results.
Via The Athletic.
The left knee issue wasn’t too bad to start the year, but as he got deeper into the summer, it continued to get worse. It never got to the point where Kilian thought he needed to shut things down and he continued to pitch through it, but it eventually became clear that he was compensating for the issue. Not only did Kilian feel off, but the information the Cubs could collect through technology also showed his front foot wasn’t doing what it had in the past.
“It was super frustrating,” Kilian said. “I didn’t know what was going on. I did have some coaches and coordinators talk to me about the changes that were happening and I tried to fix them in the middle of the year. I tried to take on too much. I was playing games, trying to work on mechanics and just thinking too much.”
Kilian will begin this year at Triple-A, where he’ll continue to start every fifth day, but don’t be surprised if he’s one of the first pitchers called up when the Cubs are in need of a starter for whatever reason.
Injuries are a bitch and as fans they’re a reminder that sometimes, most of the time probably, we don’t know the extent of what’s going on behind the scenes, especially with players down in the minors.
