Looking ahead with Jed Hoyer to the 2022 Chicago Cubs

Justin Steele, Adrian Sampson, Keegan Thompson

Steele and Thompson are career Cubs minor leaguers; Sampson is a journeyman auditioned by the Mariners and Rangers before signing with the Chicago Cubs this May. All three have been offered starting opportunities in the wake of the departures of Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, and Trevor Williams.

None has to date shown evidence of being part of the solution in 2022.

Steele has made five starts, Thompson four, and Sampson two. The average Game Score of the three through those collective 11 starts is about 45, a few points below the major league average of 50. Sampson’s 1.10 WHIP is good, but Steele and Thompson are both creating baserunners at an unsustainable rate of 1.3 to 1.5 per inning of work.

The three are likely to get three or four opportunities each over the next three weeks to change the narrative.

But given that unimpressive collective performance to date, if Hoyer lays out winter plans that project any of the three for full-time starting duty, it will be a surprise. The more likely approach is that the projected rotation is fleshed out with trade pickups, free agents, or a rookie – think Brailyn Marquez – leaving Thompson, Steele, and Sampson either competing for leftovers or out in the cold altogether.