Chicago Cubs right-hander Caleb Kilian tried to focus on the positives from his wayward spot start.
His big-league season debut quickly unraveled Saturday in a 40-pitch first inning in which the Miami Marlins sent 11 batters to the plate. Five runs, four hits, two walks and two hit batters later, Kilian’s outing was already off track.
The Cubs tried to chip away at the five-run deficit but ultimately fell short in a 7-6 loss. Kilian surrendered seven runs and 10 hits in 3⅓ innings.
Asked what he took away from Kilian’s start, manager David Ross replied, “That he’s not ready — still got learning to do, still needs some seasoning.”
Kilian, 25, became out of whack with his delivery, particularly his arm path. He felt too quick on the mound, causing his arm to lag and spray his pitches around the zone.
The lack of control arm side in the first resulted in uncompetitive pitches against right-handed hitters. He fell behind in the count to seven of the 11 hitters he faced in the first.
“I was trying to get quicker down the mound,” Kilian said. “So I was trying to throw it harder, trying to like compete and get it in there, but the arm wasn’t catching up. So the harder I would try, it was not helping me out at all.”
Kilian tweaked his delivery after the five-run inning following a dugout chat with pitching coach Tommy Hottovy to work through the issue. He loaded on his back leg longer and improved on finishing through his delivery, which helped him better command the baseball.
Kilian was pleased by how he competed the rest of his start, allowing two runs, striking out three and not walking or hitting a batter over his final 2⅓ innings.
“I had some starts last year where it was rough, but being able to turn it around this time, it’s huge,” Kilian said. “It’s encouraging. I’m staying optimistic about it. … I didn’t just go out there and completely suck. At least I turned it around a little bit.
“Definitely frustrating, but I’m glad I was able to kind of turn it around the second inning and at least I was competing.”
Kilian felt his mechanics were in a good place leading up to Saturday’s start, a needed development given his struggles in three major-league starts last year and his disappointing second half at Triple-A Iowa. He knew last week the Cubs would be bringing him up to start Saturday because of Jameson Taillon’s stint on the 15-day injured list.
Before taking the mound against the Marlins, Kilian hadn’t started at Iowa since April 19. Three weather postponements, including two because of snow, and a day off kept delaying his scheduled start at Triple A.
Once it became clear he was being lined up for a big-league opportunity this weekend, Kilian had a touch-and-feel session rather than a bullpen. He flew to Miami on Friday to join the Cubs.
With roughly a week to think about his upcoming big-league start, Kilian acknowledged he might have overthought things in the lead-up to Saturday.
“The pitch planning and stuff, I haven’t really done as much as I tried to do today,” Kilian said, “so I probably had a little too much going on in my head rather than just going out there and competing with my strengths. So that’s something I can also learn from.”
Despite his struggles, there’s a good probability the Cubs will need to call on Kilian again at some point this season. But they will need a better version than they’ve seen through four career starts.
In the meantime, perhaps they will consider other options the next time a spot start comes up. Their other starting pitcher options currently on the 40-man roster are Javier Assad and Ben Brown, who was promoted to Iowa on Saturday. Adrian Sampson is sidelined by an inflamed right shoulder blade. Others could emerge in the coming months.
Although the Cubs couldn’t rally for the win, Kilian learning from the experience and sparking a strong stretch at Iowa would be the next-best outcome for the organization.
“I mean, the stuff’s there for sure,” catcher Tucker Barnhart said. “Making spot starts are tough. To ask a guy to get on a flight, head out here and pitch the next day is difficult.
“But I thought he did a lot of really good things after we got through the first inning, got everything kind of regrouped. I thought he did a really good job.”
()