Left-hander Doug Nikhazy went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Cubs, per the transaction log at MLB.com. He’s been assigned outright to Triple-A Iowa. It’s the first outright of Nikhazy’s career. He won’t have the option to reject the assignment in favor of free agency.
Chicago designated Nikhazy for assignment earlier this week in order to create roster space for trade acquisition Yosver Zulueta. Nikhazy was a waiver claim out of the White Sox organization back in April. (The Sox had previously claimed him from the Guardians.) He hasn’t pitched for the Cubs’ big league club yet, instead spending his entire time with the club with their Triple-A squad in Des Moines.
Nikhazy, 26, was Cleveland’s second-round pick out of Ole Miss back in 2021. He’s pitched only six major league innings to date — four with the Guards, two with the Sox — and been tagged for seven runs on six hits and eight walks with six strikeouts.
From 2021-24, Nikhazy generally posted solid minor league numbers. Heading into the 2025 season, Baseball America ranked him 16th in a strong Cleveland farm system. He wound up taking a step back, however, logging a 5.02 ERA in 86 Triple-A frames. His performance this season has deteriorated even further. Nikhazy has logged an ERA north of 8.00 with the Triple-A affiliates for both Chicago organizations. Overall, he’s sitting on an 8.51 ERA in 37 frames. He’s walked 14% of his opponents against a 22.5% strikeout rate and been tagged for an alarming seven homers (1.70 HR/9) in this time.
It’s been a tough couple seasons for Nikhazy, but he’s not all that far removed from looking like a possible back-of-the-rotation starter. If he can get his command back on track, there’s still a path to him realizing that potential, or at least emerging as a possible swingman/middle reliever, but he has his work cut out for him at the moment.
