The Chicago Cubs have made a trade with the Kansas City Royals for a right-handed pitcher. The team announced that they have traded right-handed hitting outfielder Nelson Velázquez for reliever José Cuas. Cuas, 29, is in his second season in the majors. Cuas has appeared in 45 games with Kansas City this year. The righty […]

The Chicago Cubs have made a trade with the Kansas City Royals for a right-handed pitcher. The team announced that they have traded right-handed hitting outfielder Nelson Velázquez for reliever José Cuas.

Cuas, 29, is in his second season in the majors.

The #Cubs today acquired RHP José Cuas from the Kansas City Royals for OF Nelson Velázquez. pic.twitter.com/q7yIG0bmMf

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 1, 2023

Cuas has appeared in 45 games with Kansas City this year. The righty has a 4.54 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in 41.2 innings. He has great strikeout numbers, 52 of them on the year, but the right-hander has walked a ton of batters, averaging more than 4.5 per nine innings.

During his rookie season in 2022, Cuas recorded a 3.58 ERA in 47 games.

Oh my Jose Cuas ???? pic.twitter.com/s0aLX8NyEu

— Royals Daily (@RoyalsDaily_) March 30, 2023

Cuás with the NINTH highest four seam FB Stuff+ score, min 20 IP, according to FanGraphs. Kinda weird it’s his third-most thrown pitch!

Part of Cubs rationale is getting a guy from what they perceive is a bad pitching infrastructure org to a good one. Ymmv.

— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) August 1, 2023

Cuas was originally picked by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 11th round of the 2015 MLB Draft. The right-handed reliever still has two more option years remaining and won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2025 season.

Nelson Velázquez

The Cubs picked Nelson Velázquez in the fifth round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of high school. The right-handed hitting outfielder was given his first shot in the majors in 2022. During his rookie season, Velázquez hit 6 home runs, had 29 RBI and scored 20 runs in 185 at-bats. He had a slash line of .205/.286/.373, with an 87 wRC+.

In 2023, the Cubs called him up a few times, but it never seemed like Velázquez was going to stick around. He went 7-for-29, with 3 home runs and owns one of the best moments of the Cubs season back in April, when Velázquez hit a go-ahead grand slam that erased a 7-0 deficit against the Seattle Mariners.

It was 7-0.

It’s not anymore ???? pic.twitter.com/jfDDQMvk4K

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) April 12, 2023

While Velázquez had a decent slash line at Triple-A this season, his .803 OPS was below average among the hitter-friendly league, only good enough for a 95 wRC+.

So, the Cubs get a controllable relief pitcher, while Velázquez should finally be able to get some consistent playing time at the major league level.