After agreeing to a contract with another NL team on Monday, a former Philadelphia Phillies draft prospect is giving getting to the Majors one more go. Sam McWilliams, a right-handed pitcher, was signed by the Chicago Cubs to a minor league contract, according to The Athletic. Fans of the Phillies might not be familiar with his name. However, in 2014, he was selected by the team in the eighth round out of Hendersonville, Tennessee’s Beech High School.
After that, McWilliams played for six different teams, was traded twice, chosen in the Rule 5 Draft, once designated for assignment, and in late 2022 he decided to leave baseball to work as a sales representative for Blast Athletics. The Cubs will be the team to take a chance on him, according to The Athletic, since it was that work that put him back on Major League teams’ radar. He was transferred to the Phillies’ rookie squad in the Gulf Coast League almost away after being selected, and in nine games (five starts), he went 2-3 with a 5.40 ERA. He walked six and struck out ten in 25 innings pitched.
After that, McWilliams played for six different teams, was traded twice, chosen in the Rule 5 Draft, once designated for assignment, and in late 2022 he decided to leave baseball to work as a sales representative for Blast Athletics. The Cubs will be the team to take a chance on him, according to The Athletic, since it was that work that put him back on Major League teams’ radar.
He continued to play in the GCL for the Phillies in 2015, starting seven games and finishing 0–2 while bringing his ERA down to 3.27. In 33 innings, he struck out 21 and walked five, indicating some promise. Maybe it had just enough potential to be exchanged. The Phillies traded him to Arizona that November in order to acquire pitcher Jeremy Hellickson, who ended up starting for them on Opening Day of 2016. That launched McWilliams’ nomadic career as well. He was traded by Arizona to Tampa Bay in 2018 as a player to be named later. Later that year, in the Rule 5 Draft, the Rays lost him to Kansas City. After a miserable Spring Training, the Royals sent him back to Tampa Bay, but McWilliams got to
