In 2023, the Cubs bullpen slumped.
The Brewers’ reliever corps ranked second in baseball last season and was one of the best-performing teams of the year with Craig Counsell at the helm.
Now, with Counsell finding himself 90 miles south at Wrigley Field, that means the bullpen could make an immediate jump next season, right?
“We didn’t hire him just because we think he’s a bullpen master,” Hoyer said Monday after Counsell’s introductory press conference. “I felt frustrated, and I have to do a better job building my bullpen. As the years went by, I thought my bullpen was getting worn out.”
The key to solving the Cubs’ bullpen setup in 2024 doesn’t start and end with Counsell’s arrival. Would the new Cubs captain have performed differently against the same Cubs relievers in 2023? Maybe not. But as Hoyer said, it’s ultimately important to add depth and create more options for Counsel so the bullpen isn’t a concern next season and beyond.
Heading into the 2023 season, the Cubs were confident in their in-house options, including Brandon Hughes, Keegan Thompson, Adbert Alzolay, Cody Hoyer and Rowan Wick, who could cover late innings. The Cubs made only a few additions to their relief staff in the offseason, signing free agents Michael Fulmer and Brad Boxberger, claiming Julian Merriweather off waivers, and drafting Mark Leiter Jr. He was later recalled on a minor league contract. Of those names, only four – Alzolay, Leiter, Merryweather and Fulmer – became reliable names for then-manager David Ross, but Fulmer dealt with ineffectiveness early in his tenure and injuries late in his tenure. did.
At the trade deadline, Hoyer made two moves to bring in pitching reinforcements. Kansas City sent outfielder Nelson Velasquez for Jose Cuas, and sent Manuel Rodriguez and Adrian Sampson to Tampa Bay for Josh Roberson. Kuas developed into a reliable reliever, and Roberson was assigned to Triple-A Iowa and released in September.
“We probably didn’t have enough depth in the bullpen last year. Ultimately that’s on me,” Hoyer said during last week’s GM meeting. “We’ve done a pretty good job so far in building our bullpen. But I think we really wore ourselves out in the sprint last year…We had to reinforce, add players, add depth, That’s certainly a big priority.”
Bullpens, even the best bullpens, endure wild fluctuations and turnovers from year to year. Counsell’s relief lineup in Milwaukee wasn’t the same every year, but they did have one thing in common: approaching lockdown. The first part of Counsel’s tenure was Josh Hader. In recent years, it’s been Devin Williams.
The security blanket on the back end of the game allowed him to find the right guys to fill in the gaps. In 2023, for the Brewers, that was relievers like Bryce Wilson, Joel Peamps, and Hobey Milner. The 2021 National League Central Division champions had Brent Suter, Boxberger and Williams. The 2018 team that finished the World Series on the road had three lockdown relief pitchers: Jeremy Jeffress, Corey Knebel and Hader.
The Cubs may give Alzolay, who emerged as the team’s closer and had 22 saves with a 2.67 ERA, one last shut-down reliever.
“A good reliever is a great friend to a coach behind the scenes,” Counsell said. “I think every team is different in composition and make-up. Play to the strengths of the players. Find their strengths, understand their strengths, listen to their strengths. I mean there’s a lot of potential. I certainly think the goal is to find players of that level, of course that’s the goal. But it’s not easy to find those players.”
This season, it comes back to Hoyer and his front office. They will need to be proactive in supplementing existing options. There is no doubt that the Cubs have a solid bullpen shell. That has been the team’s strength for most of this past season.
Leiter, Alzolay, and Merryweather were great in 2023 and will be back next season. Hughes, who was the team’s most reliable reliever in 2022, would add a great left-handed option if he can return healthy. Koos and his funky expressions may be another option. Daniel Palencia and Luke Little are young relief pitchers who made their debuts last season, and arms like Javier Assad and Hayden Wesneski could join the roster if they don’t earn rotation spots.
“We have to be creative in the bullpen,” Hoyer said. “You have to find good players, you have to find players who have been recovering for years, you have to find players who are coming back from injury. I think you have to take a few people who might bring certainty and put them together.”
The Cubs need to add depth, especially veteran depth. The unpredictable nature of the bullpen means you can’t just rely on the in-house names. 2023 showed that. In a perfect world, these five of his players (Reiter, Alzolay, Merryweather, Hughes, Cures) would all be the best versions of themselves and could be mixed in with a few veterans and a great addition to Counsel’s toolbox. It gives you a lot of tools. However, it’s not a perfect world, and having options gives Counsell and the Cubs more room to succeed.
The Cubs will likely want to take a volume approach to reinforcements in order to build a strong and deep bullpen, as they have in the past. The Cubs accomplished just that in 2022, when the Cubs’ three most trusted relievers were Mychal Givens, Chris Martin, and David Robertson. That offseason and spring, they signed those three plus veterans Daniel Norris, Jesse Chavez, Robert Gsellman and Steven Brault. 4 misses, 3 hits.
Fast forward to 2023, and the Cubs signed Boxberger and Fulmer to guaranteed contracts, and signed Reiter, Tyler Duffy, and Jordan Holloway to minor league contracts. There are fewer options and less room for error.
“I think taking a lot of shots on goal certainly helps,” Hoyer said. “During the offseason, we made small deals with a lot of guys, but you know the hit rate isn’t going to be 100 percent, which I thought was never going to happen. But two of them… I think that’s what we tried to do is attack all these different layers because if you get one or three right, it can be really beneficial.”
That way, Counsell can find the right combination and timing to deploy each arm. The Cubs hope this will help them avoid another late-game slump in the bullpen.
“[The bullpen] It changes from day one of the season to day 60 to day 120 of the season,” Counsell said. “I think understanding that bullpens are always changing, that they’re never the same, that there’s no one rule to follow in a bullpen is probably the best way to give yourself a chance to be successful every year.”