Cubs: David Robertson’s recent struggles a cause for concern

The overall numbers for Chicago Cubs veteran closer David Robertson on the year are pretty good. He sports a 2.10 ERA, 3.37 FIP, 1.02 WHIP and 45 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings pitched. He has been able to reach mid-90s on his cutter, which he throws more than 50 percent of the time. Robertson, 37, was a flyer move in the offseason with no long-term or financial risk. He has built up his value to be an intriguing chip ahead of the Aug. 2 trade deadline.

However, he has had several rocky outings recently. With the deadline looming, one could be concerned about his trade value. The question is how much of a concern is it?

Cubs: Has David Robertson’s value fallen? If so, by how much?

Robertson blew his second save in five days on Friday night against the Dodgers. This came just after blowing a save in Milwaukee on Monday. In those two games, he combined for three walks and three hits allowed in two innings. Ill-timed walks were a theme in both blown saves, as command has been one of his consistent weaknesses. He sports a 4.46 BB/9 on the season and has walked four hitters in his last 5 1/3 innings pitched.

The good news with all of this? Despite the recent blown saves, Robertson has kept things from going completely awry so far. In both blown saves over the past week, he avoided giving up more than one run in each outing and has still managed a 3.38 ERA and .211 average against in July thus far. It really helped that in between the blown saves he had an easy 1-2-3 outing in the Cubs win in Milwaukee on Wednesday afternoon.

The fact of the matter is that contending teams cannot have enough bullpen arms. Robertson has served as both a closer and setup man in his long career. If he can still maintain good/solid numbers while still in a Cubs uniform, there will still be teams willing to trade for him. Recent blown saves might adjust his value a bit, but it has yet to destroy it. Hopefully, it does not get to that.

So long story short, no it is not ideal we have seen multiple blown saves by Robertson with the deadline coming up. This can have an impact. However, unless the wheels fall off, he can still command solid trade value.

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Right now teams like the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays could certainly use backend bullpen arms, so keep an eye on them possibly making a bid at Robertson. Truly though, any contender could go after him, even if it’s just shoring up already good bullpens on teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers or New York Yankees.