Bullpen Confidence Rankings – 6/24

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 – His 3 consecutive strikeouts with the bases loaded last week was the relief appearance of the season so far

Wisps of gray hair (high confidence):
–Caleb Thielbar – Had his first rough outing in a while last week, giving up 3 hits, including a 2-run home run to Cal Raleigh. But then again, who didn’t give up a homer to Raleigh in that series?
–Daniel Palencia – Still doing well as the closer, but it will be interesting to see if his role changes with Hodge back.
–Drew Pomeranz – Had his worst game in a while, giving up 4 hits and only recording 1 out. Amazingly, he did not give up a run, and his scoreless streak is still intact. He allowed two of Cade Horton’s runner to score and then Brad Keller bailed him out. Still, that game was an outlier amidst a series of good performances
–Chris Flexen – Unlike Pomeranz, Flexen’s scoreless streak was ended

Some gray hair (medium confidence):
–Ryan Pressly – Very close to slipping a rung after a bad outing against Seattle. He has registerest at least one strikeout in 4 of his last 5 appearances.
–Ryan Brasier – Still looking pretty good, with a 1.74 ERA and 1.065 WHIP. HE may need to be moved up soon.
–Porter Hodge – Hodge had a rough time in Iowa, so I’m a bit cautious about how he’ll perform on his return
–Michael Fulmer – Fulmer was a surprising addition to the bullpen, and may just be a short-term fill-in, while they work on the roster moves with Imanaga and Hodge. He had a brief stint with Boston Earlier in the season, but only got in one game, and was roughed up. I wonder if there was something in his minor-league deal that required a promotion or release.

Lots of gray hair (low confidence)
Pressley is close to moving down here.

No hair left (no confidence)
Pearson would have landed here if he hadn’t been sent down. And Cabrera if he hadn’t been DFA’d.

Not Applicable (minors or injured):
–Nate Pearson – AAA – He was back for a hot minute, but similar to Keyser Soze, just like that, poof, he was gone. Coming back when the wind was blowing out was unfortunate, but he needed to get some outs.
–Gavin Hollowell – AAA
–Tom Cosgrove – AAA
–Tyson Miller – AAA – Was DFA’s to make room on the 40-man roster, but opted to stay with the Cubs
–Jordan Wicks – AAA
–Ethan Roberts – AAA
–Luke Little – AAA
–Eli Morgan – IL – Still on 60-day IL
–Brooks Kriske – AAA

Released/DFA’d
–Genesis Cabrera – He’s an intriguing player, a lefty with a lively fastball and decent curve. But he just couldn’t stop giving up home runs. I’ not sure if the Cubs are still on the hook for his contract if no one picks him up.