This might be the Chicago Cubs bullpen down the stretch

The Cubs’ bullpen has been the epitome of inconsistent in 2019. However, despite the bumps in the road, there is still the potential for this group to become everything fans have ever wanted down the stretch

One of the biggest gripes you hear from Chicago Cubs’ fans about the relief pitchers as a unit is: we don’t have any power arms. And, while this may have been true at various points this season and past seasons, this 2019 crew has a chance to become the hardest throwing pen with the best stuff we’ve seen in a long time.

Not saying that the group is a finished product by any means, but the potential and stuff is there to become an elite unit if all the planets align down the stretch.

In other words, what has been a nightmare at times (mostly earlier in the season and random implosions along the way; the group is actually seventh in MLB in bullpen ERA halfway through the year)) for the front office and fanbase could become a dream if everything works out the way the Cubs would want it to.

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To be frank, we want to see this dream unfold because the nightmare has already come true too many nights in 2019. And the dreamin’ goes something like this: Craig Kimbrel, Brandon Morrow, Pedro Strop, Adbert Alzolay, Dillon Maples, Steve Cishek, Carl Edwards Jr., Tyler Chatwood, Brandon Kintzler from the right side.

You can even throw in some lefties like struggling but talented Mike Montgomery, Kyle Ryan, or Xavier Cedeno to counter that side of the plate. Sprinkle in a Will Smith or Tony Watson-type lefty or two from the trade market and you the have the makings of a killer unit. Some combination of those guys is a possibility of what you could see in the pen down the stretch for the Cubs.

Can you imagine all of those guys actually in sync and at the height of their powers in September? People have complained (and rightfully so at times) about the lack of power arms in the Cubs’ pen. That group has seven guys who can hit 97 mph. It has a bona fide closer in its midst, and playoff-tested arms. They can turn our enemies into memories.

What was once a liability and nightmare for the Cubs could very well turn into a strength and highlight of the team if things all come together and everyone stays/gets healthy? Kimbrel can be the lock-down closer we know he can be. Morrow can start tossing 60 feet, 6 inches off the ground that’s not flat. Strop can go back to obliterating hitters in the seventh or eighth inning (sometimes literally, right Yasiel Puig?).

Alzolay can become a force in the pen with his elite stuff if the Cubs don’t need him to start once Cole Hamels and Kyle Hendricks are back. Dillon Maples can control one of the best sliders in the game. Carl Edwards Jr. can party like it’s 1999… man, he was only eight in 1999. He can get himself together and throw like we’ve seen him throw in his good stretches (sort of like the one he just had before going on the IL).

True, there are a lot of pieces that have to fall in just the right way to make this dreamy Jenga-pen a reality. Just the notion of this kind of thing is the excellent dream that makes you want to close your eyes and go right back to it — and fans deserve to have some pleasant dreams to go along with all their nightmares, don’t they?

Granted, much of what I posited is pie in the sky; however, if most of these guys reach anything close to their potential down the stretch, the Cubs’ pen will be very, very good.

The Cubs’ bullpen has been the epitome of inconsistent in 2019. However, despite the bumps in the road, there is still the potential for this group to become everything fans have ever wanted down the stretch

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