After the Cubs’ bullpen had wasted a great effort from Colin Rea, losing their fourth straight game to Milwaukee in 2026, it seemed like things could not get worse.
Of course, things can ALWAYS get worse, as the team leader in appearances, Hoby Milner, had to get an emergency appendectomy, which will sideline him from 4 to 6 weeks, adding yet another injury to a bullpen that I wrote looked about ready to fall off a cliff.
But baseball is a very funny game, and just when thing looked extremely bleak, the Cubs managed to take the last two games of the series.
The biggest heroes on the mound were two guys who were not even in the organization 7 days ago:
- On Saturday, it was maligned trade acquisition David Peterson, who gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, but then only allowed one more run in 5.2 innings.
- On Sunday, waiver pickup Bryse Wilson got the bulk of the innings, going 4.1 innings allowing 4 hits and no runs.
Overall, in the two games, the besieged bullpen allowed only 1 earned run over 11.1 innings with the likes of Wilson, Webb, Thielbar, Velasquez, Thornton, Fergeson and Wicks all pitching scoreless baseball.
The one sore thumb of the group was Ethan Roberts, who allowed 2 hits and a walk in the 10th inning Sunday, without recording an out. This, on the heels of a poor performance on Friday, making me wonder how long he has left in the majors.
On a side note, the pitcher shuffle in Chicago forced the Iowa Cubs to pitch 2 position players in an 8-5 loss on Sunday. Drew Pomeranz did get an inning of work in that game as well, and I’m guessing we see him back in Chicago within the week.
It is going to be a crazy next few weeks for the Cubs, as they wait for a few of their pitchers to get back from injury. If Craig Counsell can hold the pitching staff together, and get more heroic perfromances from unexpected players, and the offense can turn around their inability to hit with runners in scoring position, this team could go from being unlikable to a darling of the fans.
Cubs in 7 
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