The Chicago Cubs' bullpen has to show up in 2020

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Adbert Alzolay (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

The Cubs and the taxi squad

Underwood did not see much time in Chicago last season, but in his debut, he struck out all six Athletics that he faced. Casey Sadler was brought to Chicago in a small deal with the Dodgers this last offseason. The 29-year-old righty had a 2.14 ERA in 33 outings with the Rays and Dodgers last season.

The Cubs will have some options out of the “taxi squad” as well. These are the guys that are not in Chicago right now training with the team; they are in South Bend training. Jason Adam, Adbert Alzolay, Dakota Mekkes, Juan Gamez, Michael Rucker, and one of the top prospects, Brailyn Marquez, are all options from the “taxi squad.”

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Overall, the team will have options in the bullpen in 2020. The most important part is that the Cubs get better in those high leverage situations that they were not good in 2019. Because with the 60 game schedule, every single game truly matters. They can not be giving up leads late in games and expected to find themselves back in the playoffs.