San Diego Padres claim desert's Jeremiah Estrada off waivers from Chicago Cubs
Palm Desert High grad Jeremiah Estrada, who has spent his entire pro baseball career in the Chicago Cubs organization, has a new team, and it's close to home.
Estrada, a 25-year-old right-handed relief pitcher, was claimed on waivers Monday by the San Diego Padres. No desert high school product has ever played for the Padres.
Estrada pitched in 17 major league games for the Cubs over the last two seasons, including 12 in the early part of the 2023 season. In those 12 games, he pitched 10.2 innings, yielding eight earned runs, striking out 13 and walking 12 while sporting a 6.75 ERA. He was sent back to the minors after his final outing on June 11 and was not brought back up the rest of the season.
The relief pitcher has never recorded a win, a loss or a save at the big league level. His career MLB ERA is 5.51.
Estrada was drafted by the Cubs in the sixth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft and saw the early part of his career hampered by injuries, including a Tommy John surgery. Finally healthy, he excelled at the Triple A level at the start of the 2022 season and made his Cubs debut on Aug. 30, 2022.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Desert grad Jeremiah Estrada claimed by San Diego Padres
