Has One Pitcher Really Saved the Cubs Bullpen? Kinda

I mean, we know that it’s a group effort, but also, ever since Keegan Thompson was called up two weeks ago the Chicago Cubs have a top-3 bullpen in MLB. So yeah, kinda.

It also helps that the starters are finally going a little deeper in games and the bullpen isn’t getting exhausted every series, but there’s no denying that Thompson’s revival on the mound has helped out the Cubs so much since he was called up from Triple-A.

Thompson made his fifth appearance of the season for the Cubs Friday night against the Boston Red Sox and shut down the opposition like he has in his previous four outings. The right-handed reliever tossed 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball, only allowing two hits and a walk. He is now up 9.2 IP on the year and has yet to yield a run.

That’s now also 4 appearances of 2+ innings from Thompson.

Let’s go back to that April 12th date. The Cubs called up Thompson and the corresponding move was optioning Jose Cuas down to Triple-A. Cuas was on the Opening Day roster and made five appearances before his demotion. He pitched 1.1 scoreless innings in his season debut against the Texas Rangers on March 30, and then was absolutely dreadful in his next four appearances,

Cuas allowed eight earned runs in his final 4.2 innings, which included his awful performance against the San Diego Padres on April 8, when the bullpen blew an 8-2 lead.

So, how good has the bullpen been since Thompson replaced Cuas? Really damn good. After Thompson’s outing Friday night, the Cubs bullpen now has a 1.83 ERA since April 12. That’s the third-best bullpen ERA among all 30 MLB teams only behind the Seattle Mariners (1.41 ERA) and the Milwaukee Brewers (1.21 ERA).

I’m not going to say the Cubs bullpen is great or anything because I’ve certainly been worried with the closer situation and yes the blown saves have been gut-wrenching, but the bullpen has actually been kinda good.

After Thursday’s sweep of the Houston Astros I posted about the bullpen’s performance since April 12, and I got this reply.

And well, Brad’s right.

Entering Saturday, the Cubs bullpen is ranked 13th with a 3.62 ERA. Relievers have pitched 107 innings, which is tied for the second most in MLB along with the Texas Rangers. Yet, if you take out that meltdown against the Padres in the series opener in San Diego a few weeks ago (7 ER in 3 IP) the Cubs bullpen would have a 3.12 ERA. That figure would currently be good enough to be a top-10 unit in all of baseball.

Listen, by no means am I saying don’t worry about the pen, but let’s give credit to these guys who have come back to make a real difference. I’m not just talking about Thompson either. Hayden Wesneski had his awesome performance on short-notice against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Yency Almonte has eight consecutive appearances without allowing an earned run. You have a few rookies in Luke Little and Ben Brown getting big outs.

Adbert Alzolay was moved out of the closer spot and he’s pitched two scoreless outings since.

And hell, even if he’s giving us a heart attack almost every time he’s out there, Hector Neris is finding ways to work out of his own trouble.

But for the past couple weeks there’s no doubt that Keegan Thompson has brought back a calming presence to the bullpen. Maybe it is the stache.