Chicago Cubs: A look at the current state of the bullpen

The Cubs will likely use last season’s formula to piece together their bullpen.

In baseball, you can live and die by the bullpen. In 60 regular season games last summer we saw how this concept impacted the Chicago Cubs.

Sure there’s plenty of other factors that influence the outcome like offense, starting pitching, etc., but more often than not the guys coming out of the pen will decide the game. If you don’t believe me ask the Tampa Bay Rays.

The 2020 Cubs bullpen consisted mostly of hit-or-miss veteran middle relievers and a few solid arms at the backend. The group went from statistically being one of the worst in the league at the beginning of the season, to one baseball’s best when October came around.

The only trade deadline additions were lefties Andrew Chafin and Josh Osich, who didn’t have much of an impact. Based on the current budget projections this upcoming season, it doesn’t look like Jed Hoyer will be bringing any big names this offseason.

I’ll mention the recent additions (there have been quite a few so far), though you might not have heard a lot about them due to their unproven work in the big leagues. I’d describe the moves as one of our staff members at Cubbies Crib put it, “Shopping in the discounted DVD bin at Walmart”. No disrespect to anyone who does that, in fact sometimes you can find a gem of a movie in that section, though the odds aren’t likely.

After the recent departures, the Cubs’ bullpen will have a few different names, but it will likely be structured similar to last season-A few solid veterans mixed in with some unproven arms.