The Cubs Bullpen Has Struggled of Late
Over the last two weeks, the Chicago Cubs have won six of their fourteen games.
With series losses to the Cardinals, Mariners, and Diamondbacks, the Cubs haven’t been playing their best baseball.
That may be true, but there have still been some incredible performances.
There have been a couple of offensive outbursts from the Cubs, with a nineteen-run game in Seattle as well as a seventeen-run game at home against the Reds.
Over the past two weeks, the Chicago Cubs have the highest OPS in baseball at .886, so why have they lost more than they’ve won?
One of the most apparent reasons for the recent losses has been the bullpen.
Over the course of the season, the relief pitchers have been at or above average in earned run average. Currently, they have the eleventh-lowest ERA in the majors from Opening Day until now, which is not bad at all. Looking more closely, the recent outings matter more. In the second half, the bullpen has the ninth-lowest ERA in the league, which is great, but over the last two weeks, that production has not been the same. Over the last fourteen games, the bullpen ranks in the bottom ten in earned run average at 4.63, and over the last seven contests, they rank twenty-third at 5.23. The discrepancy shows how different recent performances have been from what the bullpen has shown this season, and how impressive it is to still rank in the top ten in the second half despite the recent drop-off in production.
Part of the cause of the recent bullpen outings may be a slight decline in strikeout rate. Throughout this season, the Cubs have been in the bottom ten in strikeout percentage. Having the ability to miss bats is something that you obviously need from your pitching group as a whole, but specifically from your bullpen when they are in crucial, late-game situations. On an individual level, there have been several relievers that haven’t had their best stuff recently.
But the current situation with Jacob Webb is particularly interesting.
He’s had a phenomenal season and has been the most consistent bullpen piece the Cubs have had so far. After the first game in Seattle, Webb had pitched fifty-seven innings this year and had an ERA of 2.21. At that point, he had the twenty-third-lowest earned run average among qualified relief pitchers. Since then, he has thrown 1.2 innings and allowed five earned runs. Given how large the sample size is of Webb’s success this season, this is just a bump in the road for someone who will continue to get the ball in high-leverage situations for the rest of this season.
Looking ahead, the Cubs bullpen could look different for the rest of the season.
This is the case because of the injuries the Cubs have, with Justin Steele, Ben Brown, and Edward Cabrera all having chances to return to play with what’s left of this season.
Although the recent showings from the bullpen haven’t been great, it’s hard to imagine that the relief pitching won’t return to form, given their current rankings in the MLB this season.
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Categorized:Cubs