The Cubs designated Neely for assignment Wednesday.
Neely ended up being a roster casualty after the Cubs needed to free up a 40-man spot for infielder Scott Kingery, who won a utility role with the big club coming out of spring training. A 25-year-old righty reliever, Neely made six appearances out of the Chicago bullpen in 2024 but pitched exclusively in the minors in 2025. He struggled across his 28 appearances last season with Triple-A Iowa, logging a 6.23 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and 39:27 K:BB in 30.1 innings.