Red means a player has dropped
Green a player has moved up
Blue a player stayed the same
Orange the player is new
No gray hair (extremely high confidence):
No one yet, but Hodge is close.
Wisps of gray hair (high confidence):
–Porter Hodge – locked in as the 8th inning guy. His stuff has been excellent, and despite a couple of bumps in the road, he’s looked great.
–Ryan Pressley – I may be moving him up too quickly, but after his rough start, he’s looked great in his past few outings. If he can control that breaking pitch and limit walks, the Cubs should be set at closer
–Julian Merryweather – Another guy that I might be moving up a bit too quickly, but he appears to be locked in in the 7th – depending on whether Thielbar is needed for a left-head heavy part of the batting order. Hopefully, he continues to be the guy from 2 years ago.
–Brad Keller – from questions about making the roster to a trusted member of the bullpen, he is the 2-inning guy that will come in when needed. He had an unlucky outing against the Padres, but looked good.
Some gray hair (medium confidence):
–Caleb Thielbar – has had a few ups and downs, but has been solid.
–Colin Rea – not sure if I should move him over to the starter list already, as it looks like he’s set to make his second against the DBacks.
–Daniel Palencia – Watching Jeremiah Estrada is painful for this Cubs fan, as I’m sure is true for many of us. I think the hope for Palencia is that he can get the same consistency and level of trust that the Padres have found in Estrada. He’s got the stuff, but can he put it together. His only walk against the Padres scored after a Machado double, so his place at this spot in the rankings is precarious.
–Ethan Roberts – Roberts has not been heralded in his time with the Cubs. He came back from a serious injury last year, with some success. But he’s shown the ability to throw strikes and get outs so far this year, without having stuff as good as some of the other relievers in the Cubs system. If he continues, excellent. If not, he’ll be headed back to Des Moines.
Lots of gray hair (low confidence)
–Luke Little – I love him as a concept…but no so much in reality. Having a second solid lefty in the bullpen is something the Cubs have not had in several years, and an 8-man bullpen should have this luxury. But he just can’t stop walking people.
No hair left (no confidence)
–Nate Pearson – this will be his last time on this list in a while, as he’s headed back to Iowa. Another game where he walked too many hitters was too much to take. He was pretty effective last season, so hopefully he can find his command and come back and be productive for the team later this season.
–Eli Morgan – An elbow impingement could explain his struggles this season, and inability to have the same success as last year with the Guardians. He and Pearson are good examples of the desire for more depth in the bullpen, as Roberts, Palencia and Little have already come up, with Ryan Brasier and Tyson Miller set to return from injury at some point.
Not Applicable:
-Ryan Brasier – IL
-Tyson Miller – IL
Cubs in 7 
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