Chicago Cubs Have Reportedly Hired Pitching Guru to Special Assistant Role

The Chicago Cubs have made a very well-regarded hire, bringing in a pitching guru to become their special assistant.

A Chicago Cubs hat and glove sits in the dugout / David Kohl-Imagn Images

While a lot of the focus is on what the Chicago Cubs do this offseason regarding their roster, they have reportedly made a hire to improve their coaching staff.

According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, they are bringing in Tyler Zombro to be a special assistant after he became one of baseball’s preeminent pitching trainers at Tread Athletics. Per the insider's sources, "he'll work in all areas of Chicago's organization to help improve the performance of the Cubs' arms."

This is another example of Jed Hoyer and his front office trying to be on the cutting edge when it comes to development and coaching.

Despite having a dominant collegiate career, Zombro when undrafted in 2017 before he signed with the Tampa Bay Rays. With that franchise known for developing elite pitchers, he flourished and was named their their minor league relief pitcher of the year just two seasons after he joined the organization.

He was involved in a scary incident in 2021 when he was hit in the head by a comebacker that required him to get 16 plates and 36 screws to repair the skull fracture he suffered.

Zombro spent four days in the ICU before he was discharged, and after undergoing physical and occupational therapy, his CT scan revealed his skull had repaired and he was cleared for baseball activities.

Unfortunately, he could never get his career back on track.

He only pitched in two games during the 2022 minor league season after he underwent surgery to correct his thoracic outlet syndrome, and after he was released by the Rays ahead of the 2023 campaign, he only appeared in two games for the Texas Rangers' Triple-A affiliate before announcing his retirement.

Zombro is now on the coaching side of things, and he's already well-regarded.

This could be a huge hire for the Cubs if he is able to give their pitching staff an edge going forward, especially with so many young arms on their staff and in their pipeline.

Despite never making it to the Majors because of his scary accident, Zombro is a rising star in the sport and could become one of the next elite executives for this franchise.