Cubs Pull Oscar De La Cruz From AFL Roster

The dilemma the Cubs face with 22-year-old righthander Oscar de la Cruz, who has an electric arm but just 200 pro innings under his belt, is that they don’t have many high-ceiling pitching prospects.

Yet the organization will have to make a decision about adding de la Cruz to the 40-man roster in November without seeing him pitch in the Arizona Fall League.

That’s becuase the Cubs removed de la Cruz from the Mesa roster, terming the reason to be more general soreness or tenderness than a specific problem with his arm or shoulder.

“Just being conservative with him,” said Jason McLeod, the senior vice president of scouting and player development. “Unfortunately, he’s had a lot of nicks this past year and things that are bothersome.

“(It’s not a case) where you’re going to have a procedure and miss significant time. But they added up to having him miss significant time, so we’re really trying to go with a conservative approach this fall and winter.

De la Cruz didn’t feel right this season but showed flashes of excellence. He made 13 starts with high Class A Myrtle Beach and went 4-3, 3.46 with 47 strikeouts against 13 walks in 54.2 innings.

De la Cruz has a lot of room to grow and a lot of pitching experience to gain. He has appeared in 53 games since signing out of the Dominican Republic in 2012, none above Class A.

The Cubs have used the AFL as a springboard for elite hitters like Kris Bryant, who went from the 2013 MVP there to the 2016 National League MVP. Willson Contreras kept blossoming in the desert in 2015, while Ian Happ maximized the time in Mesa last year to develop into a valuable big league piece.

But pitching is a completely different dynamic, and this will be a missed opportunity for de la Cruz.

“No doubt, he could obviously use the innings and facing some better hitters,” McLeod said. “He’s shown when he’s on the mound he gets guys out—and it’s premium stuff—so we just got to get him back to that point.”

—Patrick Mooney covers the Cubs for NBC Sports Chicago