Ryan Brasier has been quietly thriving amid the Chicago Cubs bullpen's hot stretch

Monday night's game against the Royals was an ugly one for the Chicago Cubs pitching staff. As the bulk guy, Ben Brown had another rough outing that put his future with the team in further doubt, and Chris Flexen didn't fare much better. Coupled with some bad luck and moments of sloppy defense, it all resulted in a season-high 12 runs for Kansas City in a game the North Siders once led by three.

For as messy as it became for the team's arms, one person who wasn't to blame was Ryan Brasier. He opened up the game by retiring the first three batters with a strikeout, some routine ground balls, and no real sense of danger. In the midst of what was a dud of a bullpen game that no Cubs fans were particularly excited for heading in, he did exactly what he's been quietly doing since returning from the injured list in May — thrive.

The sample is relatively small at 18 1/3 innings, but over the entire season, Brasier has a 0.98 ERA and 1.95 FIP. Since recovering from his left groin strain, he's only given up one earned run for an even more impressive 0.52 ERA from May 23 onward. For Craig Counsell, that performance has been enough to enter the circle of trust and become one of his go-to guys in middle relief.

Although he's sporting the lowest fastball velocity of his career thus far at 93.8 mph and the lowest strikeout rate through this many innings at only 7.36 K/9, Brasier's peripherals aren't bad either. He currently boasts one of the lowest barrel rates in the league at only 2%, a solid 32.8% chase rate, and, crucially, a career-best 1.47 walks per nine. His expected stats aren't quite as good as his results, but Statcast currently has him at a perfectly serviceable 3.59 xERA and 3.00 xFIP. In short, he looks a lot like who he was with the Dodgers the past two seasons, which is exactly why the Cubs acquired him.

The only real reason he's flown under the radar comes down to the overall dominance of the bullpen of late. Brasier has been part of the transformation of the Cubs' relief corps, alongside a resurrected Drew Pomeranz and Chris Flexen, and the breakout of Daniel Palencia. Though Pomeranz had been out of the majors for four years, he became the story in the bullpen for a while thanks to his long scoreless streak, and Flexen has been immensely valuable as a bulk reliever. Palencia, meanwhile, has become the closer of Cubs fans' dreams with a blazing triple-digit fastball and a 1.53 ERA.

Ryan Brasier will be key to the Cubs bullpen going forward

Altogether, the group, which also features other success stories like Caleb Thielbar and Brad Keller, has combined to be the third-best unit by ERA (3.35) since the beginning of May. They could soon be getting even better too. Rumors have made it clear that the Cubs are not going to rest on their laurels with the bullpen. Whether it's a solid arm like Kyle Finnegan or a big-name closer like Mason Miller, they're exploring their options to ensure Counsell has enough weapons.

As it stands, though, they'll need Brasier and the rest to continue to hold steady. The Brewers have caught up in the division, and they can't afford to bank more avoidable losses. This group has also started to show signs of regression lately, particularly from Pomeranz and Flexen. Even if the Cubs add a big name, it's always invaluable to have a glut of reliable middle to late relief options available to rotate through as the season winds on. So long as he remains healthy, expect Brasier to keep getting the call to miss bats and keep things rolling as Chicago battles for a division crown.