Cubs watched Jacob Webb make the kind of MLB history nobody wants to remember

As Jed Hoyer has refused to spend top dollar for established closers in free agency, the old adage over the last two years has been that the Chicago Cubs always find a way to patch together the bullpen by the end of the regular season.

That doesn't appear to be the case this season. While the Cubs ' bullpen has had stretches this season where it seemed that things were figured out, the numbers are what they are. From a WAR standpoint, the bullpen has been of negative value to the Cubs this season. Something that stands out when compared to what the Milwaukee Brewers are doing right.

The latest implosion was on Tuesday, as Jacob Webb blew his third-consecutive save opportunity. While Craig Counsell is searching for answers, Webb's outing on Tuesday accomplished something that has never been done in the history of Major League Baseball.

The Cubs now have a Jacob Webb problem they can longer ignore

Over the past month, Counsell has maintained that the answers will need to come from the guys the Cubs already have on their roster. In a sense, he's not wrong. The trade deadline is in the past, and there's no external addition that is going to suddenly make the Cubs' bullpen better. Improvement will need to come from within, but that doesn't mean the veteran manager should become complacent.

At the very least, it's become clear that Webb can't be the answer at the end of games for the Cubs. Doing so would be following the same mistake the Chicago Bears made in 2018, when they suggested that Cody Parkey doinking field goals left and right during the regular season wasn't going to be a problem in the playoffs.

Of course, the question then becomes if not Webb, who?

That is an answer that must be found over the next three weeks. In a perfect world, Daniel Palencia suddenly regains form, and becomes the lights-out option he was for Counsell and the Cubs last October. If not Palencia, then the Cubs will need to hope the hail mary that is Shelby Miller's minor-league rehab assignments results in him becoming the option to save games during the playoffs.

It's also possible that the bullpen simply has no fixes this season, and that is what will be the team's undoing in the playoffs. Assuming it doesn't lead to a catastrophic failure before then. If that's the case, then Hoyer will be forced to alter his approach.

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