Cubs Preparing to Make Bullpen Changes

The Chicago Cubs begin a three-game series against the Houston Astros Monday night on the road and it looks like one or maybe even two relievers are going to be replaced.

According to The Athletic's Sahadev Sharma, right-handed pitchers Jeremiah Estrada and Nick Burdi are with the team in Houston.

While the Cubs have not announced anything as of yet, we do know that if Estrada is added to the 26-man roster, then he would have to be taking the spot of a player that is going on the injured list. Meanwhile, Burdi would have to be added to the team's 40-man roster, which may not be a big issue because the Cubs could simply put right-handed starting pitcher Adrian Sampson on the 60-day injured list to open up a spot. Sampson has been out since April with a knee injury.

The two names that immediately come to mind are Michael Fulmer and Brad Boxberger. Again, someone has to go on the injured list for Estrada to come up and it could possibly be Fulmer, who's velocity has suddenly dipped in his last few appearances.

Meanwhile, I and a lot of Cubs fans agree that Boxberger might just be done and should no longer be in the bullpen. He's the prime target right now to be designated for assignment.

The Cubs signed Boxberger to a one-year, $2.8 million contract this past offseason and although it's not the biggest sample size, you can see it on the field and on paper that Boxberger has been bad and doesn't project to get much better this season.

The 34-year-old, at times this year with the Cubs, has been more lucky than good. He has 13 strikeouts to 9 walks, which is below his career 2.5 K/BB rate. Plus, hitters have been all over Boxberger's pitches this year. Check out this contact numbers compared to last year.

2022 Numbers
Soft Hit % - 19.9
Medium Hit % - 52.2
Hard Hit % - 28.1

2023 Numbers
Soft Hit % - 7.1
Medium Hit % - 54.8
Hard Hit % - 38.1

Yeah, you definitely hate to see the soft contact rate plummet, while the hard hit rates have soared so far in 2023 for Boxberger.

Since breaking into the majors with the San Diego Padres in 2012, Boxberger hasn't necessarily been a dominant strikeout pitcher out of the bullpen, but he has recorded a handful of seasons when he's averaged 10+ strikeouts per nine innings. It is a small sample size this year, only 14.2 innings, but Boxberger is down to about 8 strikeouts per nine innings.

Nearly every number you look at is bad for Boxberger.

At the very least, it would be nice to have a couple relievers in the bullpen with great stuff. Sure, you want guys throwing strikes, but sometimes you do need a few guys who can come in and shut down lineups via strikeouts.

That's what Estrada and Burdi bring to the table, as both righties have been getting the job done with the Iowa Cubs at Triple-A this season and we have seen glimpses of Estrada in the majors. As for Burdi, he's more on the wild side, but maybe you can live with it for at least some time because Burdi can hit triple digits with his fastball and then break off a filthy slider to opposing hitters.

We'll see if the Cubs do end up making a couple roster moves down in Houston.