3 reasons Chicago Cubs fans should give up on 2023 and 2 they shouldn’t

Give up: The bullpen could come apart at any moment

It was only very recently that the Cubs' bullpen found some shred of stability, with Adbert Alozlay looking more than capable of closing ballgames while Julian Merryweather and Mark Leiter Jr. are the clear setup men. Outside of those three, there are glaring question marks. Michael Rucker is not a high-leverage arm, Michael Fulmer has to be expected to give up at least 1 run every time he toes the rubber and I have no idea what they are doing with Javier Assad.

Reinforcements were thought to be coming in the form of Codi Heuer, who was cruising through his rehab assignments at Iowa until another scary injury occurred. Southpaw Brandon Hughes was the best reliever last year but has also hit a snag with a lingering knee issue. Both men had surgeries recently and are confirmed to be sidelined for the remainder of the season. Although arms seem to be sprouting out of Triple-A at a rapid pace, the most recent one being Anthony Kay who has been good in a small sample size, the Cubs will need to add bullpen arms at the deadline if they want to hold it together.