Cubs will stick with Craig Kimbrel as closer, come hell or high water

No matter if Craig Kimbrel struggles or not, he’s the Cubs closer this year.

We still have two weeks before the 2020 regular season gets underway. But knowing it’s an all-out 60-game sprint rather than the traditional 162 game marathon, it’s hard not to have a bit more anxiety than normal. After missing the postseason for the first time since 2015 last season, the Cubs are hoping the group can bounce back and get back to their winning ways.

The offense isn’t a huge concern for most people. You’re talking about a group that returns Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Willson Contreras and Kyle Schwarber. That’s a pretty fearsome group of bats. But when you shift your focus over to the pitching staff, there are far more questions and a great deal of uncertainty.

We won’t even get into the starting rotation. Chicago knew it faced depth concerns on that front even before Jose Quintana suffered an injury that has his return to the mound on a yet-to-be-determined timetable. It looks like Alec Mills will slot into the final spot in the staff for the time being. But the bullpen faces as many – if not more – questions as we near Opening Day.

Chicago Cubs have to expect better from Kimbrel in 2020

This isn’t anything new, really. The bullpen has made people nervous for awhile now. Last summer, that uneasiness came to a head and prompted the front office to go out and bring in Craig Kimbrel once the draft pick compensation attached to him dropped off. Expecting the potential Hall of Fame stopper he’d been all his career, the Cubs got a very different experience.

The right-hander made 23 appearances – roughly a third of what he’d averaged annually since 2011 – but allowed a career-worst nine home runs and a 6.53 ERA. For the second straight season, his walk rate marked a new personal high and he just flat-out didn’t miss bats like he had in the past. His velocity was down, location was off and his first stint on the North Side was a disaster of epic proportions.

“Terrible is kind of an understatement for what I felt like I did last year,” Kimbrel said this spring. “Going into this year, I just need to get back to doing my job, getting on the mound and saving games. Time will tell. A lot of questions will be answered.”

There are all kinds of potential reasons for his struggles. The irregular offseason and lack of spring training given he didn’t sign till June. The rapid ramp-up once he did sign. His strength regimen during the offseason. Or maybe – and the Cubs are desperately hoping this isn’t the case – this is the beginning of the end for Kimbrel.

Chicago Cubs are going to stick with Kimbrel, no matter what

The Chicago closer made his first appearance earlier this week in an intrasquad game and didn’t look great. He missed spots on key pitches, eventually allowing an opposite-field, two-run shot to Willson Contreras before finishing out his frame. Despite it being his first outing, make no mistakes – Cubs fans are chomping at the bit to write this guy off as the latest failed signing of Theo Epstein.

“I felt pretty good about yesterday,” Kimbrel said Wednesday. “I was just trying to throw the ball over the plate. That was the first time I had guys taking swings off of me in the last three months. I felt good and got some good feedback. It was a good day.”

Even if that’s the case though, there’s a simple truth you need to accept. Craig Kimbrel is – and will continue to be – this team’s closer throughout the 2020 campaign. First-year manager David Ross played an integral role in recruiting Kimbrel to play for the Cubs last summer and he’s going to have his back unfailingly this year.

“He’s had a pretty good track record,” Ross told MLB.com. “I know last year was unique and really an outlier, for me.”

Ross is going to be one of those loyalty managers. If you’re putting in the work and grinding through a rough patch, he’s more likely than not going to support you and have your back. That’s an admirable quality in a world that’s more short-sighted and driven by a ‘what have you done for me lately’ mentality than perhaps ever before.

But it could also prove fatal to the Cubs’ postseason hopes.