Cubs promote Grant Kipp to Triple-A Iowa for first time

The Cubs pushed Grant Kipp to Triple-A Iowa after the 26-year-old right-hander put together a 4.03 ERA in Double-A this season, giving him his first chance to prove he can survive at the level where Chicago starts measuring rotation depth in earnest. The next step is not about pedigree. It is about whether Kipp can miss enough bats, throw enough strikes and hold up over a starter’s workload against more advanced hitters.

Kipp arrived in Des Moines with a profile that has drawn attention inside the system. He is 6-foot-6, 220 pounds, throws right-handed and sits as MLB Pipeline’s No. 28 prospect in the Cubs chain. His calling card is the breaking ball mix, with MLB.com grading his curveball at 60 and his slider at 55, while giving him an overall 40 grade. MLB.com has also described his low-80s curveball as a pitch that can top 3,000 rpm, a trait that has helped him stand out even as his fastball remains a 40-grade offering.

The promotion also reflects the path Chicago has taken with him since he was signed in 2022 as a nondrafted free agent for $50,000 after the club saw him in the Cape Cod League. Kipp, a Dallas native born Nov. 11, 1999, graduated from Yale in 2022 with an economics degree after a college career interrupted by the pandemic cancellations of 2020 and 2021. His college numbers were modest, but the Cubs bet on the pitch design and the ability to spin the ball.

That bet has now carried him to the upper minors after a 2026 Double-A line of 1-4 with a 4.03 ERA in 12 games, 11 starts, 51.1 innings and 60 strikeouts on MiLB.com. An earlier MLB.com line had him at 1-4 with a 4.37 ERA in 11 games, 10 starts, 47.1 innings and 58 strikeouts. Over his minor league career, he entered the move with an 11-26 record, a 4.60 ERA, 317 innings and 339 strikeouts.

Kipp stepped into an Iowa staff that has already churned through call-ups, outright assignments, injuries and rehab starts. Iowa opened the season March 27 with seven Cubs Top 30 prospects on the roster, and its opening-day group included 16 players with major league service time and 16 who had previously suited up for the I-Cubs. He was already identified in Iowa’s February rotation mix, and this assignment is the test that decides whether he is merely filling innings now or forcing a bigger conversation for Chicago later in 2026 and beyond.