Chicago Cubs need bullpen help, but boast several bounceback candidates

Chicago Cubs: A guy who has the tools to succeed

When the Chicago Cubs picked up Brandon Kintzler from the Washington Nationals last July, it appeared the club bolstered its staff in a big way. The veteran right-hander and former All-Star closer added another impact arm to the mix.

Except it didn’t.

Kintzler was brutally ineffective as a member of the Cubs, allowing 13.5 hits per nine and walking another 4.5 per nine. The guy, quite literally, could not miss a bat if his life depended on it and his ineffectiveness cost the team dearly.

This is a guy who, at least in theory, could have slotted into the eighth-inning role when Pedro Strop moved to the ninth, replacing the injured Brandon Morrow. When Strop went down with his hamstring injury in the final month, Kintzler could have been the closer. Instead, opponents lit him up to the tune of a .386 clip in August and .310 in September.

In short, he was pretty much unusable in any type of meaningful situation. Which, as we all know, the Cubs played meaningful games until literally the last day of the season. Sure, the offense imploded and it cost the team a division crown, but the pen was in shambles down the stretch – regardless of how well it performed.

Like I said, you can’t go into next season expecting anything eye-popping from any of these guys. But, man, if they can just get right – even one or two of them – this pitching staff takes a big step forward and sets the team up for another run deep into October in 2019.