Let’s just say that Daniel Descalso was no one’s favorite Cub.
He was signed after the Cubs traded Tommy La Stella to the Angels for a minor leaguer who never pitched in a single game in the Cubs organization,
much less in the majors. Then TLS went on to have a monster first half in Anaheim, making the AL All-Star team before an injury pretty much ruined the rest of his career.
Meanwhile, after a strong April Descalso simply stopped hitting. He was batting .364/.429/.523 (16-for-44) on April 17, but after that hit just .105/.217/.153 (13-for-124) with 47 strikeouts the rest of the season.
Along the way Descalso was called on to pitch the bottom of the seventh of a game the Cubs were losing to the Pirates 13-5, July 1 in Pittsburgh.
He got a pair of outs quickly, then allowed a double to Colin Moran, followed by a two-run homer from Jung Ho Kang.
Believe it or not, that inning wasn’t as bad as the one thrown by the actual pitcher who replaced Descalso in the eighth — Craig Kimbrel, who was pitching in just his second game as a Cub. He allowed a pair of homers (José Osuna and Josh Bell) and gave up three runs.
So Descalso at least has that, he pitched better than the Cubs closer in a game they wound up losing 18-5.
Interestingly, Descalso also pitched twice against the Cubs in his career.
The first time was in a game the Cubs were winning 17-5, May 12, 2014 in St. Louis. The Cubs had scored six runs in the ninth inning off real pitcher Randy Choate, and Descalso was called on to get the final out, which he did, striking out Mike Olt.
Then he did it again while with the Diamondbacks, Aug. 1, 2017 at Wrigley Field. The Cubs were leading 16-3 going to the bottom of the eighth, and Descalso retired Javier Báez, Ian Happ and Kyle Schwarber, all on fly balls.
Descalso had signed a two-year deal with the Cubs before 2019, but never played for them in 2020 and left after that abbreviated year as a free agent. He signed with the Twins for 2021. After he went 7-for-75 (.093) in 24 games for their Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul, he opted out of his Twins deal but, unsurprisingly, found no takers.
For the last two seasons Descalso has been the Cardinals bench coach and as far as I know will be continuing in that role in 2026.
