Vince Reilly – Pic via Grand Canyon University Athletics

When the Cubs sign a minor league free agent, there’s usually not a lot of fanfare to the signing. When the Cubs signed Vince Reilly off the free agent market last week, it did not move my needle. I thought, “I’ll just do a profile on him later.” Once I did, I began to wonder just exactly what is going on with Mr. Reilly and thought there may be something there.

Basic Information

Height – 5-foot-10
Weight – 160
Age – 22
Throws – Right
Drafted by the A’s in 2022, 18th Round
College – Grand Canyon, Hawai’i

Originally from California, Reilly began attending college at the University of Hawaii. He only got in seven games as a freshman and threw a total of 10 innings. He struck out seven and walked four and had an ERA of 3.60. He transferred back to the mainland to attend Grand Canyon University.

As a sophomore, Reilly got in some work, but only threw 9.2 innings with a 4.66 ERA.

But it was after that sophomore year that Reilly had a breakthrough. He played for Mankato in the Northwoods League. He threw in 16 games in the wooden bat league and struck out 26 in 22 innings. For the summer, he had a 0.41 ERA.

For his junior year, he returned to Grand Canyon where he got in much more work. He struck out 32 in just a little over 36 innings with a 4+ ERA.

Baseball America said the following of Reilly’s talents coming out of college before the 22 draft

A short (5-foot-10) and slender (160 pounds) righthander, Reilly served as Grand Canyon’s closer during the 2022 season. He has plenty of arm strength, with a 93-95 mph fastball that touches 96 and a hard, mid-80s slider. But his fastball is currently too straight, making it too hittable. His slider will flash above-average and he has average control. There’s nothing that stands out about Reilly, but as a short righthander with a fast arm—a team could pick him as a late-round project.

There’s a lot to like there.

Here is what “The Athletic” out in Oakland had to say about Reilly after he was drafted:

The 5-10 right-hander is purely a reliever but he gets a lot of movement with his fastball and he has two useful off-speed pitches, a hard changeup and a big, bending breaking ball that sits in the upper 80s. He could use a little more velocity separation between his fastball and secondary offerings. Urlaub believes Reilly will be able to gain more velocity when he turns pro. “Vince is a guy that is a competitor. He challenges hitters. He believes in his stuff,” Urlaub said. “I saw his fastball from 94-96 with flashes of a wipeout slider. I think he has a chance to even throw harder and be a solid bullpen piece. He has a bulldog mentality that never quits.”

As a pro, Reilly did not pitch in 2022, but did in 2023 and only got in four games with a 3.68 ERA and was released. It’s hard to fathom why, but there had to have been something that A’s didn’t like and released him quickly.

So, instead, I went to the video to take a look.

The slider, my friends, is real. 

The Cubs can take that slider and build around that and work on his fastball grips to create some more movement. Who knows, a changeup might be in his future as well.

I am excited to see him pitch later this year at Myrtle Beach. I doubt if he breaks spring training with the club, but we will see. It is going to be fun to see how he develops as a pro.