(670 The Score) From their shared days in Cleveland, Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins is plenty familiar with right-hander Zach Plesac, whom the Guardians recently designated for assignment.
Could that lead to a reunion in Chicago? Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins didn’t answer that directly, but he did share praise for Plesac during an appearance on the Parkins & Spiegel Show on Wednesday afternoon.
“He’s a great athlete that’s a great competitor as well,” Hawkins said. “You know, he was a position player in college and actually talked about being a position player when he got over to the Indians, now Guardians organization and then we basically converted him to full-time pitcher. I think overall, that was the right move. But his ability to manipulate the baseball, to the repeated delivery, to use his athleticism to locate really well, that was something he did really well. He’ll have a chance to do that again here, just obviously has run into a bit of a struggle lately. But again, careers change very quickly.
“You just never know when guys are going to turn the corner. That’s one of the beautiful things about this game.”
So have the Cubs been discussing internally the possibility of pursuing Plesac?
“I wouldn’t comment on specific players that we’re talking about or not talking about except to say, yeah, any available player on the market, on the waiver wire that’s been designated for assignment, we have a process in place here to make sure we’re vetting those guys and trying to figure if that’s somebody that we would have interest in,” Hawkins said. “I will say that that is happening for every pitcher, literally, and position player that’s available to us.”
The 28-year-old Plesac has struggled mightily in posting a 7.59 ERA in five starts this season, but he has a career 4.20 ERA in five MLB seasons. Plesac has spent his entire professional career in the Guardians’ organization.
Hawkins worked in Cleveland’ front office from 2008 to 2021 before joining the Cubs.
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