Chicago Cubs looking for a sweep despite shaky bullpen performance

Despite another lackluster bullpen performance on Wednesday, the Chicago Cubs head into Thursday’s finale looking for a sweep of the Colorado Rockies.

Let’s not mince words. When you’re paying a guy $126 million, you hope for more than 5 1/3 innings of work every five days. But Yu Darvish held his own and overcame a trio of walks, limiting the Colorado Rockies to two earned runs in what eventually resulted in a 9-8 Chicago Cubs victory.

Really, things went sideways after that. It took half a dozen relievers to close things out – and those six guys combined to allow five runs in just 3 2/3 innings of work, pushing the team to the brink. If not for a historic night from David Bote, Colorado may very well have come away with a win on Wednesday.

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The guy who really struggled, right-hander Brad Brach, got torched for four earned runs, retiring just one batter. One of the Cubs’ signings this offseason, Brach has struggled by more than a few measures, especially an unsightly 1.865 WHIP and eight walks per nine. The latter clearly isn’t sustainable and he could quickly find his way out of Joe Maddon‘s circle of trust – especially in light of the team’s signing of Craig Kimbrel.

Once he ramps up, Kimbrel immediately takes over the closer’s job. Until Brandon Morrow returns, Pedro Strop likely returns to his long-held role of setup man, with the likes of Steve Cishek, Brandon Kintzler, Carl Edwards, Kyle Ryan, Tyler Chatwood and Mike Montgomery rounding out the pen.

And, if Chicago gets meaningful contributions from Morrow, then this immediately becomes one of the best bullpens not just in the division – but in all of baseball.

On the year, Cubs relievers rank fourth in the National League in earned run average (4.17) and have allowed the sixth-highest opponent batting average in the Senior Circuit (.247). The bullpen has also allowed the fourth-most walks among NL clubs. But, despite it all, they’re still in first place heading into Thursday’s finale against Colorado.

After last week’s disappointing road trip, the Cubs needed to get some home cooking fired up heading into this weekend’s matchup with St. Louis. Chicago took care of business in the makeup against the Angels – and have taken each of the first two games against the Rockies.

With a few weeks until Kimbrel joins the ranks, all eyes will be on the bullpen as the Cubs look to put some room between themselves and the rest of the National League Central. This remains their biggest weakness and challenge as they head into the summer months.