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Houston Astros pitcher Hayden Wesneski

The Kyle Tucke r era with the Chicago Cubs has barely even begun, but Cubs fans are already piling up the reasons to regret the trade to acquire the three-time All-Star from Houston for Isaac Paredes , Hayden Wesneski and Cam Smith . 

The more pessimistic followers of the team had ammunition right from the start, pointing to the fact that Tucker will be a free agent after the 2025 season . Given the amount of vitriol routinely thrown at Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts over the perceived lack of spending to improve the roster, there aren’t many who feel confident that Tucker’s time in Chicago will extend past this season. 

The angst has only been heightened by Tucker’s slow start this season. After an uncharacteristically tough spring for the left-handed hitting outfielder, who had just three hits in 30 at-bats during Cactus League play, Tucker is batting .125 through the first four games of the regular season, with one single and one double in 16 at-bats. 

Hayden Wesneski Dazzles With Wide Array of Pitches

Meanwhile, the increasing buzz surrounding the players shipped to the Astros has not helped. 

First it was Smith, the Cubs’ first-round draft pick in 2024 and the No. 58 overall prospect in MLB Pipeline’s latest rankings , who amazed his new teammates during the spring with “the makeup, the calmness, the maturity, confidence” of a future long-time All-Star. Smith earned his way onto the Major League roster with a dominant spring, batting .342 with four home runs and 11 RBIs, and he stroked a key RBI single on the first pitch he saw in Houston’s 3-1 season-opening win over the Mets on Thursday. 

Now, Wesneski’s potential can be added to the mix. In his “10 Bold Predictions for the 2025 Season” column for The Athletic, Eno Sarris suggested that “Hayden Wesneski is the Astros’ newest coaching win.” 

The right-handed pitcher, who was the Cubs’ No. 5 prospect in 2023 , has shown plenty of potential and a wide array of pitches through his first seasons in the Major Leagues, even if the overall numbers may have seemed rather average.  

Last season, Wesneski did appear in 28 games , including seven starts, for the Cubs across three stints, posting a 3.86 ERA while opponents hit .215 against him. In his career, Wesneski has 68 appearances, 22 of them starts, with a 3.93 ERA and 183 strikeouts in 190 innings. 

Hayden Wesneski Ready to Contribute to Houston Rotation

Citing analysis that touts the benefits of relying on a variety of quality pitches, Sarris notes Wesneski’s arsenal of 4-seam fastballs, curveballs, cutters, changeups, sinkers, and sweepers, and his willingness during the spring to utilize all of them at any time, to state that Houston could be on the verge of something special with his unique talent. 

“Wesneski is mixing it up well,” Sarris wrote. “He was already in the top quartile for the arsenal-size statistics at Baseball Prospectus as a reliever, and the Astros look like they’re having him focus on being unpredictable. That’s pretty old-school, and it works.” 

For his part, Wesneski said he feels ready to contribute at the back-end of Houston’s rotation. 

“I do feel like I’m a better pitcher than I was when I came in,” Wesneski said. “I feel like I’m in shape, my body feels great. We’re in a good spot for the year to start off.” 

Dave Benson Dave Benson is a longtime writer with over three decades of experience in a variety of mediums, including 15 years covering high school, collegiate and minor league sports in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Dave is also a licensed English teacher and spent a few years teaching at the middle school level. More about Dave Benson