Chicago Cubs: Assessing this year’s deadline moves

The call was for the Chicago Cubs to solidify their bullpen, and Theo & Co. did exactly that. In what was a “restructuring” of the pen, the Cubs added three new arms in order to offer a tougher task for opponents late in games. Mission accomplished.

The Chicago Cubs issues prior to the All-Star break weren’t strictly bullpen related. The once mighty offense was scuffling and the starting pitching was less than stellar. But with each loss, the bullpen was identified–maybe unfairly–as the biggest issue of this Cubs’ team. Fair or not, Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer went and addressed it by acquiring three quality arms in Aroldis Chapman, Mike Montgomery and Joe Smith.

The initial thought on everyone’s mind was “who goes”? Some of those concerns sorted themselves out with injuries and DL trips. One of the unfortunate casualties was Clayton Richard, who was unable to find what made him so valuable last season. It’s possible he could still clear waivers, but even then he could refuse an assignment to Iowa in order to find work elsewhere.

So what exactly have we gotten with these new players? Well, if the starting pitching goes on hiatus again the ability to shorten games to five or six innings with the starters will be the first thing. Things have picked up here in the second half, as demonstrated by Kyle Hendricks complete game gem against the Marlins on Monday night. After that insane victory on Sunday, it couldn’t have come at a better time for Joe Maddon and the Cubs bullpen.

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Montgomery has had a rough go of it to start in Chicago, allowing a run in three of his first four outings as a Cub. He did pitch a scoreless inning in the win against the Mariners on Sunday, striking out two while allowing two hits. Even with a rough beginning, his ERA still sits at just 2.62.

He’s been dominant against left-handed hitters, holding them to a .208 average with 19 strikeouts against 88 batter faced. His curveball can be devastating, and as we get into the playoff push his ability to match up against a team’s best lefty in the middle innings will bode well for Maddon and matchups.

As if Chapman needs an introduction to what he does–he throws hard. And often times he throws it right past people. He did allow a go-ahead double to Leonys Martin in the loss to the Mariners, but it wasn’t a terrible pitch. But when velocity hovers around 100 regularly, guys can occasionally square it up.

The best part of Chapman’s addition is the Cubs now have two top-tier closers in their bullpen with Hector Rondon. Couple them with former closer Joe Nathan and it looks like an unstoppable bunch out in the pen. But how it looks on paper is irrelevant as the pitchers still need to execute, and one mistake can cost them a game.

The final piece added to the Cubs bullpen puzzle is Smith. You aren’t going to see him at the tail end of games, but his funky sidearm delivery will be a nice change to the Cubs bullpen of flamethrowers. With the assumed trio of Pedro Strop, Rondon and Chapman closing out the final three innings–Maddon will have the ability to mix and match at his discretion with guys like Nathan, Travis Wood, the red-hot rookie Carl Edwards, Jr. and Montgomery.

For the second year in a row, the Cubs’ front office has built (or rebuilt depending how you look at it) their bullpen in mid-season. The year started with guys like Neil Ramirez, Justin Grimm, Trevor Cahill and Clayton Richard expected to help solidify the middle of games. All of them have had theeir moments, and Ramirez is gone with Richard possibly following behind him. Cahill is on the DL but should return soon while Grimm was sent down to make rook for Brian Matusz who made a spot start–and was then promptly DFA’d.

Next: Hendrick's shine in 5-0 shutout

These three aren’t going to be the saving grace of this team. They never were. But they will make the last few innings of a game some of the toughest opponents will face all season. The key to the second half will be health (Dexter Fowler is healthy, Jorge Soler is returning soon), and consistency from the offense.

Let us not forget, while the starters were criticized last fall (rightfully so), the offense was without Addison Russell, and Javier Baez was a step or two behind as a hitter where he is now. With another year under their belt to go along with this bullpen? The Cubs will be a force come October.