The Cubs were swept by the Pirates in improbable fashion this weekend. They wound up blowing the lead in each game, including the Saturday game in which they led by four runs. Some of this was bad luck. Some was a lack of timely hitting, especially in the first two games. Most of it, I suppose, was bad relief pitching.
So who stinks right now in the bullpen? Mainly Grimm and Strop, who together accounted for quite a bit of the carnage. Duensing has also been bad, but he was recalled just to cover for Edwards who was off on bereavement leave. Duensing, however, is not just in a slump, in my opinion, but is just not all that good.
When you look at the season so far, you have to be honest and attribute the majority of the Cubs losses to the bullpen. Sure, the hitting has been inconsistent, but it is really the bullpen that has failed to hold the lead. I may be a purist fan in this regard, but I have never entirely bought into the way Maddon handles the pitching. What I am arguing - and I know he has a history of trying different tactics early on - is that, to my mind, Maddon is a little too quick to pull his starters. In the Pirates series in particular, I thought Hendricks ought to have had a shot at pitching out of trouble in the sixth inning. Maybe you can argue that Arrieta should have been pulled, as he was getting hit hard late in the outing. but I would have given him at least another batter. Lester, of course, pitched seven innings and had over a hundred pitches.
Anyway, we are twelve games into the season and five of the relievers have had six or more appearances already. That strikes me as rather a lot. Hopefully, we right the ship against the Brewers.
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