Injury Clears Up Opening Day Cubs Bullpen

The Chicago Cubs only have a couple roster decisions to finalize before their domestic Opening Day later this week, but the latest pitching injury has pretty much cleared up the bullpen mystery.

The team has already optioned righty Eli Morgan to Triple-A, following the Tokyo Series last week and now Tyson Miller's hip injury has paved the way for Brad Keller to grab the final bullpen spot. Miller's injury was revealed this past weekend and as weird as it sounds you can point to it as somewhat of a positive because now we can attribute the injury to some of his struggles throughout spring training.

Tyson Miller going to IL with left hip impingement. Ben Brown now in the mix with Rea for 5th starter.

— Paul Sullivan (@PWSullivan) March 22, 2025

Miller, who was originally drafted by the Cubs in 2016 and made his MLB debut in 2020, was acquired early in 2024 from the Seattle Mariners. The right-hander completed his first full year in the big leagues and turned out to be one of the most consistent relievers in the bullpen for the Cubs in 2024. Miller posted a 2.15 ERA in 50.1 innings, while recording a save and 14 holds.

He entered camp as one of the eight relievers projected to be in the Cubs bullpen, but Miller will now begin the regular season on the injured list. Miller allowed nine earned runs on 10 hits and four walks in 4.2 innings during his five Cactus League appearances. The righty also allowed an earned run on a pair of hits in the Cubs' exhibition game against the Hanshin Tigers in Japan.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Miller's hip injury was indeed leading to uneasiness on the mound.

Via Cubs.com.

“Essentially, it’s affecting mechanics a little bit here,” Counsell said. “And we’re struggling a little bit with some fastballs, just consistency of pitches, shapes. Hopefully, he can take a couple days, get rid of that and then work on some mechanics.”

Miller, 29, is out of minor league options. So, there was a scenario in which the Cubs would either have hoped Miller would figure it out in-season or because of the struggles he could have been DFA'd. Now, the Cubs get to keep him in the organization and buy more time so that Miller hopefully recovers and will straighten things out on the mound.

So, with Miller on the injured list and Morgan already optioned the final spot in the bullpen has opened up for Keller. On Monday, Keller pitched a scoreless first inning against the Atlanta Braves. He struck out Austin Riley and Matt Olson to end his spotless frame.

Keller hitting 98mph and then following it up with a nasty strikeout of Matt Olson https://t.co/Cr9TIKKltr pic.twitter.com/kr5WDljt1i

— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) March 24, 2025

At this point, here's how I would project the pitching staff for Thursday's Opening Day against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Starting Rotation
Justin Steele
Jameson Taillon
Shōta Imanaga
Matthew Boyd
Ben Brown

Bullpen
Colin Rea
Brad Keller
Nate Pearson
Caleb Thielbar
Ryan Brasier
Julian Merryweather
Porter Hodge
Ryan Pressly

Technically the Cubs could still decide to place Morgan back on the active roster and potentially option Nate Pearson, who does have a minor league option remaining. However, considering the Cubs could have done that last week and opted to send Morgan down instead it appears as though Pearson will get a shot in the bullpen first.

The only other real question on the pitching staff leading up to this week's domestic Opening Day was who the fifth start would be. Counsell will make that official soon and Ben Brown will get his last chance to impress on Tuesday, when he'll start against the Atlanta Braves in the team's spring training finale.

“He’s feeling really good,” Counsell said. “And I think that shows us some signs of being a really good Major League starting pitcher. If that’s the direction we go, that’s a pretty good [arm]. There’s some ceiling there, and it’ll be interesting to see what happens.”

If Counsell does name Brown the fifth starter, then veteran Colin Rea will move into the bullpen as a multi-inning reliever. Of course, it's a long season and Rea is also expected to make some starts throughout the year.