Hayden Wesneski

Hayden Gregory Wesneski (born December 5, 1997) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022.

Amateur career
Wesneski attended Cy-Fair High School in Cypress, Texas. He played for the school's baseball team, and had a 25–9 win–loss record and a 3.56 earned run average (ERA). He graduated in 2016. The Tampa Bay Rays selected Wesneski in the 33rd round of the 2016 MLB draft, but he instead enrolled at Sam Houston State University to play college baseball for the Sam Houston State Bearkats.

New York Yankees
The Yankees selected Wesneski in the sixth round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. He received a $217,500 signing bonus and played for the Pulaski Yankees after he signed, going 1–1 with a 4.76 ERA over $28 1⁄3$ innings. He began the 2021 season with the Hudson Valley Renegades and was promoted to the Somerset Patriots and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders during the season. Over 25 games (24 starts) between the three teams, he went 11–6 with a 3.25 ERA and 151 strikeouts over $130 1⁄3$ innings. Wesnewski returned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2022.

Chicago Cubs
On August 1, 2022, the Yankees traded Wesneski to the Chicago Cubs for relief pitcher Scott Effross. The Cubs assigned him to the Iowa Cubs. The Cubs promoted Wesneski to the major leagues on September 6. He debuted that day and pitched five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts en route to his first career win. On September 22, Wesneski pitched an immaculate inning versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished his rookie campaign with a 2.18 ERA in 6 games.

In 2023, Wesneski made 34 appearances (11 starts) for Chicago, and registered a 3–5 record and 4.63 ERA with 83 strikeouts across $89 1⁄3$ innings pitched.

Wesneski was optioned to Triple–A Iowa to begin the 2024 season.