Chicago Cubs: Team going with quantity in building the bullpen

Chicago Cubs: Looking at the other additions

Sadler and Olson are just the latest two minor additions that the Chicago Cubs have made to the bullpen mix for 2020. Even though it’s been to the chagrin of many Cubs fans, the team has been active this winter in making many such minor moves to improve potential bullpen depth. Consider these other moves that the team has made since the season ended:

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups
• Cubs: P.J. Higgins deserves to be in the lineup on a daily basis

• The team brought back Brandon Morrow on a minor league deal. Morrow is a converted starter whom the Cubs brought in before the 2018 season to help lock down the bullpen, but he hasn’t been able to stay on the field due to injury and missed all of 2019. When he did pitch from 2015 to 2018, he posted a 2.04 ERA.
• The team signed Dan Winkler, who had a 3.25 ERA for the Atlanta Braves between 2017 and 2018. (He had a 4.98 ERA in 2019.)
• The team signed Jharel Cotton, who made 29 starts for the Oakland Athletics between 2016 and 2017. He figures to be in the mix for a fifth rotation spot as well.
• The team signed Ryan Tepera, who posted a 3.49 ERA with the Toronto Blue Jays in 193 games between 2015 and 2018. (He had an ERA of 4.98 in 2019.)
• The team signed Jason Adam, who pitched in 23 games for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2019 and posted a 2.91 ERA.

No big names appear on this list, and many of these pitchers are bounceback candidates after a subpar 2019 season or injuries. Yet looking at some of these stats, there is hope that at least a couple of these pitchers could turn into effective bullpen arms in 2020.