Javier Assad

Javier Eduardo Assad Ramírez (born July 30, 1997) is a Mexican professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). Early life, family and education Assad was born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico. While playing Little League Baseball as a youth, he was teammates with future professional baseball player Alfonso Rivas. (Assad and Rivas became teammates on the Chicago Cubs following Assad's promotion in 2022.) Career Assad signed with the Chicago Cubs as an international free agent on July 27, 2015. He made his professional debut with the rookie-level Arizona League Cubs in 2016, pitching to a 2.87 ERA in 10 games. He spent the 2017 season with the Low-A Eugene Emeralds, logging a 5-6 record and 4.23 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 13 starts. He pitched in 23 games (21 starts) for the Single-A South Bend Cubs in 2018, registering a 5-7 record and 4.40 ERA with 89 strikeouts in 106.1 innings of work.