Cubs Bullpen Is Now Complete – Goal Accomplished
Via MLB.com
This offseason has sucked. How can I say that? Well, 99 of the 257 baseball’s free agents have signed with a team. Also, five have elected to go to either Japan or Korea, and there has been one official retirement (Carlos Beltran). This #ColdStove has only seen one of the top 10 free agents sign. With pitchers and catchers expected to report in less than a month – 78 pitchers don’t know if they are training in Arizona or Florida or even for which franchise. The Chicago Cubs have been rather active this offseason. They have signed six of the “major” free agents, and several other minors deals. In fact, the team came into the offseason with a pen in possible shambles, and dare I say… the Cubs bullpen is now complete.
On Wednesday morning, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports broke the news that the Cubs and lefty reliever Brian Duensing have come to terms on a two-year agreement, valued at $7 million. Brian is the last piece of a bullpen that has been completely revamped this offseason, having added Brandon Morrow, Steve Cishek, and Dario Alvarez.This is how the Cubs pen will likely look like in 2018.
Mike Montgomery, LHP
Justin Wilson, LHP
Steve Cishek, RHP
Carl Edwards Jr, RHP
Brian Duensing, LHP
Pedro Strop, RHP
Brandon Morrow, RHP
Umm, I really like this bullpen. Sure the team doesn’t have an “experienced” closer, but all signs point to yes in asking if Morrow is ready for that step. He was great in the playoffs, perhaps overworked a bit in the World Series, but it adds to his experience. That lack of experience on his resume is what scares Cubs fans, and in the current window it should, but no one has experience until they do.
Fans don’t particularly trust Pedro Strop, but he has been one of the most consistent Cubs relievers ever. You can question his performance with inherited runners, but you can question most relievers then. He’s been tested in high-leverage situations, with varying degrees of success. Ultimately, he is better more often than not.
Retaining Duensing is a surprise, since he had been offered more this offseason andhad been pursued by several teams early. He was absolutely fabulous in 2017 for the Cubs – and I’m not just talking his dance moves. His performance was very noticable, especially in tough situations for the team. I really like that he was just as tough againt right handers as he was against righties and having that flexibility allows Joe to make less decisions in 2018.
Dang… Carl Edwards Jr. He had a rough go in November of last season. He mostly took it bad with inherited runners in 2017. He allowed a run in 35% of the late and close situations he was in last season. Carl was crazy good, limited hitter to batting next to nothing, but the statistics didn’t tell the whole story. Then there was his breakdown in the playoffs, which was fairly dramatic. The overwhelming failure he experienced in the playoffs have broken other relief pitchers in the past, so this season will be a giant confidence booster for him. If he can come back to form and regain that trajectory he was previously on, he will make a giant difference in 2018. If he continues to falter, and if his psyche was permanently damaged, it could be a rough season for him.
The biggest danger I see is, who closes if Morrow is hurt or can’t perform as expected? Steve Cishek has some experience, but it was a single season, on a team that didn’t have a playoff chance. If Justin Wilson is good again, he might be the first option the team turns to. He was relatively successful in the role for Detroit. He was closing out of necessity however, and after being traded to Chicago he began walking the farm in nearly every appearance.
This is an important season for Wilson can bring his walks back down to career norms, he will be a valuable part of the 2018 bullpen. Adding the versatility of Mike Montgomery, someone that can start, come in for a three-inning appearance, factor in late in games, and even close (remember game seven of the World Series). A good mix of both right-handed and left-handed relievers. Power arms and finesse guys. Plus an addition of guys that just throw strikes (Morrow and Cishek) will pay big dividends for a pen that gave up the most unintentional walks in 2017.
While there are questions, there is reason to be excited as well. This should be a rather eventful 2018 for the Cubs bullpen. In fact, with the additions – the 2018 bullpen will be better than the 2017 pen.
This starts with the mentality Jim Hickey instills in relievers. It is their job to throw strikes, and when they do, good things happen. Imagine Pedro Strop going at hitters, instead of creating tough at-bats by pitching around them with his slider? Even above this, the Cubs have brought in guys that have consistently limited walks. Morrow has allowed less than two walks per nine innings over the past three seasons (some limited to injury). Cishek allowed 2.8 walks per nine last season. Alvarez has been limited, but from 2015-16 he allowed 2.5 walks per nine.
Not allowing free baserunners is actually smart baseball, and it appears the Cubs bullpen will be ready to limit those free passes.
Perhaps more importantly, the pen will be rather versatile. With guys like Montgomery and Strop and Duensing and Cishek and Wilson and Morrow, all guys that can perform in different spots, this pen will be more able in more situations. Carl Edwards Jr was the eighth inning guy until he wasn’t. After his failure in the 2017 playoffs, Joe Maddon had literally no faith in any other reliever. Now, Joe could lose faith in any of them, and he has shown in the past to have varying degrees of trust in relief pitchers. This could be based on actual success/fail rates, or just Joe’s mood in a certain week. It is my belief that this pen allows him more options in the event that he does lose faith a particular guy here or there.
This could be the deepest pen the Cubs have had in years, but paper championships are easily burnt to the ground. We will see them put it all to the test soon enough.
