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Although he tried to rehab a knee issue, Julian Merryweather will not be returning to the Cubs this season. Instead, he’s having a patellar tendon debridement surgery in his right knee.
Merryweather, 32, broke out in a huge way for the Cubs last year after not quite being able to get over the hump with the Blue Jays. He showed his huge fastball, nasty slider, and finally stayed healthy for a season. Unfortunately, he couldn’t replicate it this year, dealing with a shoulder issue/rib fracture for much of the season, then really struggling when he came off the IL, and then going back on the IL with the knee issue. He finishes the 2024 season having throwing just 15.0 innings of 6.60 ERA ball.
The loss of Merryweather more or less right out of the gate was a pretty significant blow to the Cubs’ bullpen, as it wound up REALLY accentuating the struggles of Adbert Alzolay and Hector Neris. Had Merryweather been healthy and effective, it’s conceivable he would’ve taken over the 9th from Alzolay sooner, and Neris could’ve stayed in a setup role. Who knows how many of those May and June games that would’ve flipped.
The question ahead for the Cubs is whether to tender Merryweather a contract in arbitration. On the one hand, he wouldn’t make too much – probably under $2 million – and you would ensure that you control him through 2026 in case he bounces back in 2025. On the other hand, that’s a 40-man spot taken up all offseason for a guy who might not bounce back, and $2 million is not nothing.
If you fജorced me to call it today, I would say the Cubs probably do tender Merryweather 𒊎in November, but a lot can change between now and then.
The good news for Merry♏weather is that, although any surgery for a baseball player is not a good thing, this sounds like a relatively minor procedure that should leave him with plenty of time to be ready for Spring Tr𝄹aining.
