A bi-weekly assessment of how confident I’m feeling when the Cubs call on each member of their bullpen. These assessments are often not completely rational. The ratings are based around how much each reliever causes my hair to turn grey or even fall out.
It seems like every season with the Cubs’ bullpen is a roller coaster ride. The injuries to the pitching staff this season has created a revolving door at the last couple of sports – both due to injuries for relievers, but also starter injuries that have forced Rea, Brown and Assad into the rotation.
And just when it looks like the Cubs might be able to reinforce the bullpen with one of the starters as a long reliever, as Matthew Boyd will be back, another two injuries happens – this time to Edward Cabrera and Ben Brown.
One of these guys is just up for the double-header. And the Cubs will need another starter, unless Vince Valasquez is the guy. So this list could be very different as of the next update.
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):
Webb was getting close, but then has looked human in several consecutive appearances. Rolison has a chance if he can keep up his good work.
Specks of gray hair (high confidence):
–Ryan Rolison– Rolison has surpassed Jacob Webb as the big surprise of the season. He has not allowed an earned run since giving up a game losing home run to the White Sox in the crazy extra inning game on May 17th. That includes 16 and a third innings over 13 appearances. I trust him as the primary setup man more then Caleb Thielbar at this point, and perhaps he should be the closer.
–Jacob Webb– Webb had allowed 1 run in 15 appearances in May and the beginning of June. But things have been bad lately, with 3 homers and 7 runs allowed in his last 4 innings over 5 appearances. This reminds me of the Webb we got early in the season, so who is the real Jacob Webb?
–Hoby Milner– Milner has been a workhorse, already appearing in 36 games, sporting a 3.38 ERA. He got shellacked in one game against the Giants, giving up 6 of his 13 runs this year in one outing on June 5th. But he hasn’t allowed a run in the last 7 appearances. Take that bad game away, and his ERA would be 1.82.
Some gray hair (medium confidence)
–Caleb Thielbar– Thielbar has dropped down a tier, as his ERA is almost at 5. He’s allowed runs in 4 of his last 8 appearances – giving up 2 runs in 3 of those games. It seems like Craig Counsell wanted to use him as the primary setup man, but he has not done well in that role this season.
–Ethan Roberts– He had a bad game against the Rockies, but otherwise has been pretty good, with a 3.04 ERA. With all the injuries to pitchers, I didn’t see him being sent down anytime soon. But I still don’t have a ton of confidence in him yet.
–Trent Thornton– I can’t figure out Thornton. the numbers are pretty good – a 3.15 ERA and 1.10 WHIP look solid. But his FIP is 6.30, expected ERA is 6.02 and HR/9 is 1.80 (which is very bad). If and when the actual numbers revert to the expected numbers, things could get ugly. But I think the Cubs will ride with him for now.
Lots of gray hair (low confidence)
–Phil Maton– Maton has pitched slightly better than his ERA over 6 would suggest, but not much better. He had 5 straight outings without allowing a run, but allowed base runners in all of those outings by hit or walk. He really needs to climb in the rankings to keep the Cubs in the Wild Card race, as there is lots of inexperience in the rest of the pen.
–Gavin Hollowell– He had a brief run with the Cubs, pitching in two games without giving up a run. He’s struggles in his previous time with the big league club, but he as gotten yet another chance.
No hair left (no confidence)
–Vince Velasquez– he’s been brought up after the recent stretch of injuries. His perfect ERA may be under threat if he makes it into a game. I’d expect his stint will not be long, but perhaps he gets a start with only 4 healthy pitchers for the rotation.
–Jayden Murray– Who? The Cubs traded for Murray, who was DFA’d by the Astros. The cost was low – Cameron Sisneros – a 25-year-old first baseman who had just been promoted to AA. He was terrible with the Astros, with a 7.43 ERA over 13.1 innings. And his first game with the Cubs was not good, as he gave up 3 runs, including a home run in one inning of work – still good enough to close outa 9-6 win.
–Tyler Ferguson– Another castoff, this time from the Athletics. He allowed 3 hits and a solo homer in his only Cubs appearance. He is only back as the 26th man for the double-header.
Moved to the Rotation:
Not Applicable (minors or injured):
–Daniel Palencia– 15-day IL – He is injured again, putting a top of pressure on the rest of the bullpen. He was down a few ticks on his fastball in his final appearance, which raised some red flags, and it turned out to be a mild flexor strain in his elbow.
–Jordan Wicks– AAA – I can’t see him coming back up to start or for relief. After two poor starts in Chicago, he has been roughed up Iowa, giving up 6, 4, 6 and 2 earned runs in his four starts. He’s a guy who might be on the edge of being DFA’d, which would be a big disappointment for a first round draft pick.
–Ty Blach– AAA
–Corbin Martin– AAA
–Hunter Harvey– 60-day IL – not much news on Harvey lately, which is not great news
–Riley Martin– 15-day IL. Martin just started throwing again, but is still a long way away from a return.
–Porter Hodge – 60-day IL – Out for 2026
–Luke Little– AA – Was demoted to Knoxville due to poor performance in Iowa. Any hopes that he could be a solid bullpen contributor continue to dwindle.
Released:
–Charlie Barnes– waived and picked up by the Dodgers
–Yacksel Rios– went to Korea to play after being released by the Cubs. He
Cubs in 7 
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