Hey, the Cubs bullpen has actually been pretty good for a while. They've gone from the worst bullpen in baseball after the first couple weeks of the season to 13th overall based on ERA.
Craig Kimbrel has been pitching like the guy the Cubs thought they were getting last summer, while Rowan Wick and Jeremy Jeffress continue to get the job done in high leverage situations. And you can probably add Jason Adam to the circle of trust, as he's struck out 18 batters in 10.1 innings.
However, the Cubs still don't have that one lefty that you can 100% count on late in games to get out tough left-handed hitters.
The Cubs acquired two relievers at the trade deadline in Josh Osich and Andrew Chafin. Osich has appeared in three games, hit around by the Cardinals once, while Chafin has been ramping up in South Bend after suffering a finger injury when he was with the Diamondbacks.
Chafin, 30, has a career 3.68 ERA and has held lefties to a .618 OPS, so the Cubs are hoping he can be their shutdown lefty, or at least be better than what the team currently has from the left side in the bullpen.
Sorry Kyle Ryan.
After pitching in a simulated game Wednesday, Chafin looked good and more importantly felt good. Although manager David Ross didn't specify when Chafin could be added to the bullpen, he didn't rule out that happening as early as this weekend against the Twins.
The Cubs have 10 games left in the regular season. So, not much time to figure out how they'll construct their postseason bullpen, but hopefully Chafin emerges as a lefty they can count on.
Loading comments...