Some have accused the Cubs’ bullpen of looking a little tired recently.
Their results have been middle of the pack for the last two weeks. And in Mark Leiter Jr. (63), Julian Merryweather (61), José Cuas (61) and Michael Fulmer (57), the Cubs have four of the 60 most used relievers in MLB by appearances, despite Fulmer being on the injured list for the last two weeks and ineligible to be activated until Saturday.
“There was a long time where we had one person in the top-25 for appearances in baseball, and the way the games have gone the last two weeks have bumped that up,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said. “There’s still so many other things you can do to evaluate fatigue or if a guy might be ready to go pitch that night. But guys know this is the time of the year to push and we need to win every game we can.”
Indeed, the Cubs had ways of perceiving that closer Adbert Alzolay needed a breather, even his current career high of 56 appearances this season is a step behind the rest of their high-leverage arms.
Friday marked the first appearance for Alzolay in a week, and he looked sharp once more. But back-to-back blown saves (incurred while pitching for the third time in four days) marked a point for the Cubs to give the 28-year-old a breather.
“When you get fatigued, what guys tend to do is guys try to use their body a lot more than they probably do when their arm is fresh,” Hottovy said. “With Adbert’s slider, he’d hang a little bit more and not be as sharp.”
Help is on the way. Fulmer threw a high-intensity 30-pitch bullpen Friday, though Hottovy said the team wants to see how he recovers before he returns from his forearm strain. Another telling move is veteran righty Brad Boxberger being activated Friday after missing almost four months with his own forearm strain, with Keegan Thompson optioned to make room.
Boxberger had a 5.52 ERA when he was injured in May, but is coming off back-to-back strong seasons with over 70 appearances apiece. Whereas Thompson is most accustomed to multi-inning outing with days off in-between, Boxberger is experienced in late-inning work and ready to pitch every day.
“I understand what it takes to go down to a playoff push and be available,” Boxberger said. “To be able to bounce back every day and recover well is definitely one of my goals.”
Stroman’s progress
Hottovy’s phone was lighting up with texts from Marcus Stroman on Thursday, after a two-inning, 29-pitch live batting practice the All-Star right-hander threw at the team complex in Arizona.
Stroman is due for another such session on Monday before the Cubs map out a plan for rehab assignments. But it wasonce feared that a rib cartilage fracture would end Stroman’s season, and now there’s optimism.
“He’s more enthused and we’re more enthused that he’s going to get to a point where he can help us this year,” Hottovy said.
Heavy lifting
The Cubs are in a stretch of 27 games in as many days that will conclude with an off day Thursday, in between road series in Colorado and Arizona.
“This was definitely one of the tougher stretches,” Ian Happ said. “We’ve got a lot of dudes in here who go out and play everyday and know how to handle that with their bodies.”