Chicago Cubs comment on ugly bullpen collapse: “We’ve got to pitch better”

The Chicago Cubs have fallen from their top NL Wild Card spot and are now trailing the Philadelphia Phillies by a game after their 9-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.

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The loss to their NL Central Division rivals, who are now 8 games ahead of the Cubs in the division, was especially concerning since it highlighted one of the main concerns facing this team as it works its way to a playoff berth.

The bullpen has been held together all season by hopes, wishes, overachievement and the sage guidance of manager Craig Counsell. When early plans collapsed and the bullpen became stressed and strained by injury, a small legion of relievers was ushered in and out to assume needed roles and get outs. Up until fairly recently, it’s mostly worked out for the team.

Now, it’s looking like reality is starting to hit hard.

Cubs bullpen problems

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Over their last 11 games, Cubs relievers have a 5.97 ERA. On Tuesday, the bullpen flat-out collapsed, inheriting a 3-1 lead with one out in the sixth and proceeding to give up 6 runs after that.

Daniel Palenicia’s disastrous performance was the first and most noteworthy bullpen fail of the evening—giving up 2 earned runs on 2 hits and a balk. The former closer is now 4 games into his big league return after an extended stint on the IL and is sporting an ugly 16.22 ERA over 3.1 innings.

“I’ve been missing some locations. I need to execute better on my pitches,” Palencia told reporters after the game. “It’s been tough for sure, but this is baseball. I’m gonna have bad days. This is not me. Like I said, I want the ball tomorrow. I’m gonna be ready, and that’s it.”

Ryan Zeferjahn, Caleb Thielbar, and Tyler Ferguson were also awful in their turns after Palencia, giving up 4 earned runs in 3 innings.

The Cubs’ bullpen has actually been trending downward for awhile. Some would argue that they’re now playing down to their actual level after months of performing above their level.

Aldo Soto of Sports Mockery recently summarized the Cubs’ plight and the need for a bullpen turnaround:

“Overall, as a bullpen dating back to Aug. 11, the Cubs rank 22nd in MLB with a 4.81 ERA. During that stretch, the Cubs have five blown saves, tied with two other teams for the most. This bullpen is starting to give me those 2023 vibes, when you have a bunch of guys who were great for a long time, but then lost steam and broke down in September. The problem right now is that the Cubs don’t have many other options. Palencia has to be good. Zeferjahn has to be good. Jacob Webb has to be good. If they don’t turn it around fast, then it could get very ugly for the Cubs down the stretch.”

Hoyer, Counsell speak on bullpen situation

Right now, the bullpen as a unit is bad and wholly unreliable—and that doesn’t bode well for Chicago’s chances in the playoffs.

But there’s still some internal belief that things will turn around—at least according to the public talking points from coaching and the front office.

“It’s been a really good bullpen throughout the year,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told media. “That is the nature of bullpens. Hopefully, they can wipe away [some bad outings of late]. Recency would say they need to step up and perform the way they did the rest of the year, but I don’t think you would’ve asked me [about the bullpen] seven games ago.”

Counsell was mare pragmatic in his response, working under the reality that this is who the Cubs have and who, also, they have to count on.

“We’ve got to pitch better, there’s no question,” Counsell said. “But these are the guys, man. This is them. So we’ve got to help them get better, and we’ve got to get outs.”

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Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-bullpen-collapse-hoyer-counsell-palencia/