4 pitching injuries that derailed the 2024 Chicago Cubs season

One of the most significant factors in the Chicago Cubs' failure to make the postseason in 2024 was the score of injuries that plagued much of the roster.

On the pitching side, these injuries contributed to the team testing its inexperienced starting pitching depth and bullpen depth which ultimately proved insufficient. Although mid-season acquisitions and minor-league call-ups eventually settled the bullpen down, these four injuries proved to be instrumental to the team blowing 26 saves, racking up early losses and ultimately missing the playoffs for the third straight year.

1. Ben Brown

An injury that is still concerning to this day was the one sustained by rookie pitcher Ben Brown, who went down with a mysterious neck injury in early June which eventually ended his promising season.

Before hitting the injured list, Brown was using his electric fastball and wicked curveball to mow down opposing hitters, culminating in 7 no-hit innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 28th. Although the starting pitching eventually became a strength for the 2024 team, Brown's absence was felt for a time in the rotation and later in the bullpen.

A series of injuries and poor performance was the bullpen's story for much of the early half of 2024, and Brown could have transitioned into a relief role later on had he been healthy. Perhaps Brown could have positively impacted the blown saves category, but we'll never know.

The really concerning thing is that we haven't gotten a substantial update on Brown's status since August, and the team has reportedly "moved on" from the idea of the 25-year-old being a rotation piece next year. A relief role looks likely and he could even be in the mix to be the team's closer given his spectacular stuff. But a real update isn't expected until Spring Training kicks off in February.

2. Adbert Alzolay

I've heard the argument that Adbert Alzolay is "not a real closer," but the fact is he handled the job fairly well in 2023. In 58 games that year, Alzolay converted 22 saves out of 25 opportunities, struck out 67 batters and posted a 2.67 ERA. This performance cemented Alzolay as the everyday closer down the stretch and as a cornerstone of the bullpen.

Unfortunately, Alzolay only tossed 17.1 innings for the Cubs in 2024 before suffering a forearm injury in May that sidelined him for the rest of the season. The 29-year-old also did not look sharp in his 2024 outings. He posted a 4.67 ERA and gave up more home runs in those 17 innings (6) than he did in 64 frames in 2023 (5). Admittedly, he may have been trying to pitch through the injury which eventually resulted in Tommy John surgery.

Although Alzolay's injury was a major blow, where the Cubs went wrong was when they failed to acquire adequate depth for Alzolay's role as closer. The most significant bullpen acquisition last year was Hector Neris, who was extremely wild as a ninth-inning man. Neris seemingly never failed to put runners on base in his high-leverage outings, resulting in an ugly 1.52 WHIP.

Hoyer admitted in his after-season press conference that he did not do a good job shoring up the bullpen last offseason. Hopefully, he will learn from his mistakes this time around and financially invest in his relief corps.

3. Yency Almonte

The other offseason acquisition who figured to be a main cog in the bullpen was Yency Almonte, who came to the North Side from the Los Angeles Dodgers along with first baseman Michael Busch.

The 6'5 right-hander struggled early but looked like he was settling into a set-up-man role after his first 17 outings with the Cubs. Unfortunately, Almonte met the same fate as Alzolay, and was placed on the injured list in May and did not return. He elected to have season-ending shoulder surgery in June that is projected to sideline him until the middle of 2025. Almonte will likely be rehabbing with another team, though, as the Cubs released him on November 4 along with Colten Brewer.

Almonte has the tools and velocity for high-leverage situations and he would have gotten save opportunities if he didn't get hurt. It's also unfortunate that the Cubs won't get any value out of Almonte in 2025 given he was a solid addition to the Busch trade. But given the Cubs outrighted Almonte to the minors, the team likely did not want to use a roster spot on him since they need to make additions this offseason.

4. Julian Merryweather

Julian Merryweather was one of the other main pieces of the 2023 bullpen, alongside Alzolay and Mark Leiter Jr. Merryweather was nothing short of fantastic that season, posting career numbers across the board in categories like strikeouts (98), innings pitched (72) and ERA (3.38).

However, one of the reasons that 2023 was Merryweather's career year is his extensive injury history. For three straight seasons from 2020-2022, Merryweather missed significant time with the Toronto Blue Jays before the Cubs took a flyer on him in 2023. The injury bug again hit Merryweather in 2024, where he missed more than four months because of shoulder and knee issues.

Merryweather was the first domino to fall in early April with Alzolay and Almonte following in May. Before the Cubs were even close to the halfway point in the season, the team had lost most of its relief weapons. Credit to Hoyer, who went out and acquired Tyson Miller, Nate Pearson and Jorge Lopez mid-season, who all became trusted arms down the stretch. To be fair, there was a bit of luck involved because all three of them outperformed expectations along with rookie Porter Hodge.