Questions and concerns regarding the Chicago Cubs bullpen

Question #4: Can Jeremiah Estrada be part of the equation?

The Cubs had called up Jeremiah Estrada after Javier Assad was sent back down to Triple-A back on April 21st. The 24-year-old righty has only made one appearance since, and that was at the end of the 13-0 blowout win over the Dodgers. Since then he has sat in the pen not seeing any action.

Estrada is more of an unknown but it would be wise to see more of what he can do. There is promise in his arm and he has not yet had much time to show it off. If there are continued struggles in certain areas of the pen, it could be worth giving him more looks. Not necessarily in high-leverage spots, but middle innings or certain matchups. Build him up to see what you have.

The main guys in this pen have worked pretty hard, and the innings will pile up. If they can get value in a guy like Estrada it will help make organizing the pen and spreading the work a bit easier.

We cannot say this bullpen has been awful, at times it has been very effective. The basic ERA, FIP, WHIP stats have the Cubs pen as a collective pretty much middle of the road. With that said, the Cubs cannot give away too many games if they want a chance to play beyond 162. Luckily, it is still very early.

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