As the Chicago Cubs move on from devastating loss, their worn-down bullpen and lack of depth loom large

Home » Sports » As the Chicago Cubs move on from devastating loss, their worn-down bullpen and lack of depth loom large – The Denver Post

Seiya Suzuki is notoriously hard on himself.

Whether he hits a home run or produces an 0-fer — and anything in between — Suzuki often expresses self-critiques and the high standard he holds himself to.

So it was fair to wonder, shortly after he miscalculated a fly ball which resulted in a two-run error for the decisive play in Tuesday’s crushing loss at Truist Park, how Suzuki would handle the situation. He vowed postgame to not dwell on the moment and let it carry into Wednesday, saying doing so would ruin the Chicago Cubs’ positive vibe for their final five regular-season games.

President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer was among the people who checked on Suzuki postgame Tuesday and offered words of encouragement.

“He’s apologetic, which is exactly what I would expect. He felt terrible and I thought his teammates handled it really well,” Hoyer said Wednesday. “Drew (Smyly’s) comments were perfect. … Obviously emotions are high, but I thought his attitude was really good, but I thought those comments, the team mirrored that pretty well.

“A lot of guys have made big errors and come back from it, a lot of guys have had bad moments on the mound and come back. Generally when you make it to this level you’re pretty mentally strong and I think that’s the hope is he realized it was a bad moment and keeps hitting well.”

For the Cubs to close out a wild-card spot by the end of the regular season Sunday in Milwaukee, the most glaring potential hindrance remains a bullpen running on fumes. A big boost is coming, however. Right-hander Adbert Alzolay threw live batting practice Wednesday and expects to come off the injured list Friday before the Cubs’ series opener against the Brewers.

They need any proven relief help they can get after blowing another late lead Wednesday in the Cubs’ 6-5 loss in 10 innings against the Braves.

“These last two weeks, especially the last five days, has got to me a little bit just not being able to be out there pitching,” Alzolay said. “But at the same time trying to keep the boys in the dugout or in the bullpen, everyone together and keep cheering for the boys. That’s all I can do.”

Since Alzolay went on the 15-day injured list Sept. 10, the bullpen has posted a 4.12 ERA (16th in majors), 1.39 WHIP (21st) and minus-0.2 fWAR (26th). Conversely, the Cubs’ bullpen ranked among the best in the big leagues with their 3.48 ERA (sixth), 1.21 WHIP (fourth) and .209 average against (first) between June 9, when they entered play 10 games under .500, and Sept. 9.

The bullpen has tried to survive without Alzolay the last three weeks, but those efforts were complicated by losing veteran right-handers Michael Fulmer and Brad Boxberger to the IL because of right forearm strains. Mark Leiter Jr. also hasn’t been 100% and entered Wednesday not having pitched in a week. He blew the save in the ninth.

Earlier this season Hoyer took responsibility for an inconsistent bullpen, saying at that time he had not done enough to help manager David Ross with his relief options. The back end eventually got into a groove as Leiter, Julian Merryweather and Alzolay became Ross’ go-to high-leverage options.

Once a strength, the bullpen’s health and effectiveness has been tested the last few weeks.

“We got to a place of real stability for a long time and had a really good bullpen. I do think the fact that we had to sprint for so long, and it’s a credit to our team that we don’t get blown out very often, so we’re playing close games every night and winning all those games I think it did have a negative impact and kind of wore us down,” Hoyer said.

“At this point we have to figure it out. Other teams are in that position. We have to piece it together in a different way. We had a pretty good formula going for a long time, that formula is not there any more so we have to find a new one.”

Deeper outings from their starting pitchers would help lessen the load, but they too have been tested down the stretch. Organizational depth is always challenged over the course of a season, and the Cubs’ pitching depth, especially in the bullpen, has not held up well. Looking back at the trade deadline, when José Cuas was the only reliever they added, Hoyer said there weren’t relievers available they felt they could access at that time, pointing to other teams facing the same issue then.

“It comes down to building up that depth and you’re ultimately going to have to rely on player development and for a huge chunk of the season that was effective, it hasn’t been effective late,” Hoyer said. “It’s hard in this day and age to have enough arms and that’s why you have to have really good player development and a really good pitching infrastructure because it’s almost like you feel like you can’t have enough.

“But when I think about this season, that’ll be the challenge to myself is to make sure we have enough volume to get through it.”

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As the Chicago Cubs move on from devastating loss, their worn-down bullpen and lack of depth loom large – The Denver Post

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