SAN FRANCISCO – This time last year, side-armer Scott Effross was in Triple-A, working for an opportunity to showcase his revamped delivery in the big-leagues.
On Monday, the Cubs traded the standout rookie to the Yankees for right-handed prospect Hayden Wesneski.
Effross was the second major-leaguer the Cubs traded leading up to Tuesday’s deadline, following veteran reliever Chris Martin, who the Cubs dealt to the Dodgers for utility player Zach McKinstry. But Effross, a homegrown pitcher who has yet to reach arbitration, doesn’t fit into the sign-and-flip playbook the Cubs have used for veteran relievers in recent years.
“First time going through a lot of things this year,” Effross told the Sun-Times this week when asked about the trade buzz around his veteran bullpen mates, “including this, and obviously, it’s a lot of noise.”
Now Effross, who the Cubs drafted in the 15th round of the 2015 draft, is checking off another first: His first time in a different organization.
In return, the Cubs add a pitcher who MLB Pipeline ranked No.7 in the Yankees’ system. And through assistant pitching coach Daniel Moskos, who was Wesneski’s Double-A pitching coach in Somerset last year, the Cubs have some familiarity with the prospect. This season in Triple-A, Wesneski has posted a 3.51 ERA and .650 strikeout rate.
The Yankees wouldn’t have parted with a prospect as highly rated as Wesneski if it weren’t for Effross’ rapid development in recent years.
“The arm slot change is one thing,” Moskos told the Sun-Times earlier this season, “but what he does every day, day in and day out, he’s one of the most consistent humans you’ll ever be around. And I think that kind of tells more of the story than just the delivery change.”
In 2019, in a last-ditch effort to keep his baseball aspirations alive, Effross agreed to drop down his arm slot from overhead to side-armed. He made his major-league debut just a couple years later, debuting late last August.
“Being able to compete in those close games last year down the stretch and everything,” Effross said in a conversation with the Sun-Times this weekend, “kind of allowed me to be more comfortable for this year and learn each day and take everything in stride.”
This year, Effross has posted a 2.66 ERA, and his 46 relief appearances were tied for second-most in MLB entering Monday.
“He’s earning that, the right to come in, in leverage situations,” Cubs manager David Ross said recently. “He’s had a phenomenal year. He’s taken real well to a full major-league season.”
The adjustment to a full major-league workload is no small task. Effross said he’d only thrown in back-to-back games in the minors a “handful” of times. Now, that’s become commonplace for him. He’s also pitched in every inning from the first through the 10th and recorded his first career save last week.
The key to adjusting to the jump in usage, he said, has been honing his own routine, while pulling from his observations of, and conversations with, veterans like Martin, David Robertson and Mychal Givens.
“It’s just smarter,” Effross said. “Now, I think I do pretty much the same amount of things, but I have more of a reason behind why I’m doing them.”
It’s still a learning process, he said. And now, it’s one that will continue in New York.
