Bullpen Confidence Rankings – 6/4

Some comings and going with the bullpen while I was out of the country.

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):
–Brad Keller – He made it to the top, which probably dooms him to a couple rough outings in the near future. Who knew that this guy who was a non-roster invitee in the Spring would be so good.

Wisps of gray hair (high confidence):
–Caleb Thielbar – Rock solid all season. Continues to get people out, especially lefties. His curveball has been working all season.
–Daniel Palencia – The new closer for now, but maybe the future? I wonder if he keeps the role even when Hodge comes back. It really feels like he’s turned a corner in his development.
–Drew Pomeranz – He’s still humming along, with 1 hit and 1 walk allowed in his last 5 appearances, and no runs in 13.2 IP of 15 games this season. His usage as an opener also seemed to help Ben Brown in his last start. I keep feeling like the other show will drop for both min and Chris Flexen, but Counsell should continue to ride these guys as long as it is still working.
–Chris Flexen – His tally of scoreless innings stands at 14.1 over 8 games. The Cubs had to promote or lose him, and promoting him seems to have been the correct choice. There’s still a chance he could get a start or two down the road, but he’s been essential with Brown and Horton sometimes going 5 or fewer innings.

Some gray hair (medium confidence):
–Ryan Pressley – He continues to look better as a middle reliever, including striking out the side in a recent appearance. I’d put him fourth on the long-term closer depth chart behind Palencia, Hodge (when he returns) and Keller.
–Genesis Cabrera – another waiver pickup, this time from the Mets. He didn’t pitch poorly for them, but they had a roster crunch, and wanted to make room for Brandon Waddell. The Cubs have had a few waiver pickups (Pomeranz, Cosgrove) to supplement the arms in the bullpen. He is out of minor league options, so if things go south, he would probably be released – costing the Cubs some of the money they cleared in the Cody Bellinger deal.
–Ryan Brasier – He’s finally back, after a decently long IL stint. I had forgotten he was active in Tokyo, by Brad Keller took his spot when the Cubs came back to the U.S. He’s been OK in his return, but might need to improve is K rate to stick around.

Lots of gray hair (low confidence)
No one, at the moment. With the ruthlessness the Cubs have shown this season with bullpen arms, if a player drops to one of these spots, they will either be demoted, released, or sent to the IL due to an “impingement”.

No hair left (no confidence)
Same as above

Not Applicable (minors or injured):
–Porter Hodge – His oblique is healed, but then imaging revealed he had a dreaded impingement. It will be interesting to see if he gets the closer role back from Palencia when he returns.
–Gavin Hollowell – AAA
–Tom Cosgrove – AAA
–Tyson Miller – IL – Back to having rehab appearances
–Jordan Wicks – AAA
–Ethan Roberts – AAA
–Luke Little – AAA – Doing very well at Iowa. I would not be surprised if he were called up if something happened to one of the other lefties.
–Nate Pearson – AAA
–Eli Morgan – IL – Still on 60-day IL
–Brooks Kriske – DFA’d – pitched in 1 game before a DFA to clear a roster spot for Cabrera. He might drop off this list.

Released
–Julian Merryweather – It was a sad end to Merryweather’s career in a Cubs uniform, but it had to happen. He had become the weak link in the bullpen, and there were many better option. He lost a few MPH on his fastball, making it very hittable. The final 3 inning trio of Merryweather->Hodge->Pressley only lasted about a month. It remains to be seen whether he will catch on somewhere else.