Dillon Maples

Position: RHP
Born: 05/09/92
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 225
B/T: R/R
Acquired: Drafted in the 14th round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft (CUB).

Most Recent Stats at Time of Debut
6-3 with a 2.27 ERA and 13 saves in 52 games between Myrtle Beach (High A), Tennessee (Double-A) and Iowa (Triple-A), striking out 100 while walking 37 in 63 1/3 innings, allowing 44 hits for a .192 BAA.

Info & MLB Debut Date
Contract purchased from Iowa on September 1 when rosters expanded.
MLB Debut Date: 09/03/17

Debut Details
September 3, in a 5-1 loss to the Braves. The second of five pitchers, he walked one and struck out one in one hitless shutout inning. Of 15 pitches, eight were for strikes. Coming on in the top of the sixth in relief of left-handed starter Mike Montgomery, he got Matt Kemp to ground out to third base on the first pitch he threw . Nick Markakis then grounded out to second. After Dansby Swanson walked, Rio Ruiz struck out swinging to end the inning.

Player Notes
Maples' road since being drafted out of Pinecrest High School (Southern Pines, N.C.), has been an interesting one to say the least. A high school standout who also had an offer to play baseball and football at North Carolina, he had seemed to choose the college route and worked out at UNC until changing his mind at the end of that 2011 summer and signing with the Cubs for first-round-type money. He struggled physically and developmentally his first few seasons, including a rib injury that held him to a 9.00 ERA in 10 starts in 2014 and just 35 innings between Eugene (Short-Season A) and South Bend (Class A) in 2015, to the point of being ready to retire as recently as 2016. But after more consideration, he pulled it together and put up by far the best numbers of his career in 2017, zooming through three minor-league levels right to the big league, shining with his plus fastball, curveball, and, most notably, a slider that is so good it's been called by many in the know "an 80" -- and if you want to know how good that is, just look at the name of this website.