Chicago Cubs: Team going with quantity in building the bullpen

The Chicago Cubs haven’t added any big names for the bullpen for 2020. Instead, they’ve decided to pile up low-risk arms, hoping some work out.

We’ve already written plenty this offseason about how the Chicago Cubs have made no major moves as we get closer to the start of spring training for the 2020 season. The bullpen might be the biggest area of weakness heading into 2020, as the team is losing Steve Cishek (already signed with the Chicago White Sox), Brandon Kintzler, Pedro Strop, and David Phelps to free agency.

It’s looking more likely with every passing day that none of those pitchers will be coming back, as the team is standing firm in its unwillingness to spend more money this offseason. Yet, unlike with the other areas of the team, at least the Cubs have been willing to do SOMETHING when it comes to the bullpen for 2020.

On Friday, the Cubs added two more arms into the bullpen mix, signing Tyler Olson to a minor league deal and trading for Casey Sadler from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Again, these are not moves that are going to inspire much confidence in most Cubs fans. Yet it is indicative of the front office’s plan for the bullpen: stockpile as many arms as possible and hope that enough of them work out to build a decent group of relievers heading into the season.

Both Sadler and Olson have had success at the major league level. Sadler quietly posted a 2.14 ERA in 33 appearances between the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019, while Olson pitched 20 scoreless innings for the Cleveland Indians in 2017. Olson hasn’t replicated that success over the past two years, posting a 4.66 ERA in 82 games over 2018 and 2019, but lefties are batting a career .210 against the southpaw.

Chicago Cubs: This year’s Rowan Wick or Kyle Ryan?

To those who think it isn’t possible that any of these additions could help the Cubs in 2020, keep in mind the cases of Rowan Wick and Kyle Ryan. Wick came into 2018 with just 8 1/3 career innings of work, with the San Diego Padres, in which he gave up six earned runs. Yet the right-hander was a surprise find for the Cubs in 2019, posting a 2.43 ERA in 31 games. Wick earned Joe Maddon‘s trust down the stretch.

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Then there’s Ryan, who didn’t even pitch in the majors in 2018. The southpaw spent four seasons in Detroit, from 2014 to 2017, and was up and down, having his best season in 2016 when he posted a 3.07 ERA in 56 games.

Yet he had last allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings with the Tigers in 2017. The Cubs turned him into an effective reliever in 2019, as he posted a 1.1 WAR out of the bullpen.

The Cubs don’t have to have all their additions work out for them to have a decent bullpen, but they will have to get a few surprises both from these additions and internally.

If they can get maybe two or three of the new additions to have a good spring, combined with Ryan, Wick, Tyler Chatwood, and two or three other guys internally (such as Brad Wieck, Alec Mills, Adbert Alzolay, Duane Underwood, Jr., Dillon Maples, or James Norwood) to have good springs, David Ross could have some good options in the late innings to get to closer Craig Kimbrel.

Again, I understand that most Chicago Cubs fans wish the team would make some bigger additions for 2020, and I still have a lot of concerns about the bullpen, as I’m not fully confident that this strategy will work. Yet we can’t claim that the front office has done absolutely nothing when it comes to building a bullpen, either. Let’s hope the Cubs strike gold with at least a few of these new arms this year.