Bullpens are unpredictable and turbulent. That’s a reality of baseball, an aspect of the game that has been proven year after year. The Chicago Cubs experienced it again this season. After injuries and ineffectiveness caused the bullpen to be one of the weaker aspects of the team, the Cubs’ relievers have completely turned their season around.
“It’s a tough job,” said manager Craig Counsell. “It’s a fickle job in general. But they depend on each other; I really think that’s an important part of it.”
On May 31, the Cubs bullpen had an ERA of 4.56, ranking 27th in baseball. Since then, they have led the baseball league with an ERA of 2.69.
“We’ve definitely done a pretty good job,” Counsell said. “We have some guys who weren’t here at the beginning of the season who are doing a really good job.”
During this hot phase, four pitchers have emerged as key players on a team that is suddenly a strong team.
(Note: All statistics refer to the start of play on Sunday.)
Counsell mentioned new players, but Smyly is the only one of that quartet who was on the 40-man roster to start the season. It almost feels like he’s a rookie, though, because what Smyly has done since returning from the injured list in late May has stood out.
Before going on the IL, Smyly’s ERA was 4.97. Since then, it’s been 2.17. The big change since his return is that he’s using his curveball and sinker more often. The sinker is used about 53 percent of the time, and the curveball is 42 percent.
“As time has gone on, I’ve just become a little more aware that my fastball works well, especially against left-handed hitters,” Smyly said. “The curveball worked more as a chase or a two-strike pitch. I noticed I was getting a lot of good results with the fastball. So I decided to use it more and save the curveball. Against right-handed hitters, it’s still 50-50, if not more curveball.”
Since returning from the injured list in late May, Drew Smyly has a 2.17 ERA. (Darren Yamashita / USA Today)
Left-handed hitters are hitting .227 against Smyly’s sinker. They’re hitting .216 against his curve. So both work. The only problem with Smyly is that he doesn’t miss many batters. Smyly says using his cutter, which he’s all but eliminated lately, could help guys miss more batters.
It can be difficult to be successful long-term when a pitcher isn’t getting strikeouts and isn’t a good groundball player, which isn’t the case with Smyly. But what he’s doing is working, so why change something that’s good? His barrel rate (5.5 percent) is the lowest of his career, so if he continues to make that soft contact and use it in the right places, he might be able to keep it going for the rest of the year.
Miller dominated right-handed pitching for the Seattle Mariners, but was eventually pushed out of an organization with a lot of pitchers. The Cubs were able to use him easily against all kinds of hitters, and he has thrived.
“We know he’s a fastball-slider guy,” said pitching coach Tommy Hottovy. “Fastball with carry and cut and a sweeper with real movement. He can use that to counter left-handers. But he also has a curveball that he used to knock a left-hander out of the game the other day. He plays with the slider and he’s mixed in the changeup and then a sinker for right-handers.”
The Cubs have essentially used Miller as their fireman starting in the fifth inning. When players get on base in a close game and the starter is out of breath or another reliever is struggling, Miller often comes in. Most of the time, it’s worked out great. Friday’s sudden power struggle was the exception for a pitcher who has a 4.4 percent walk rate. Despite that slip-up, Miller has a 1.24 ERA in 36 1/3 innings pitched for the Cubs this season.
The Cubs have been waiting for a young pitcher to step up from the minors and earn a spot in the bullpen. Adbert Alzolay did that last season, but others have struggled when given opportunities. After starting the season in Double A and looking like he was far from there with his mastery in spring training, Hodge has risen quickly.
“Porter has been outstanding,” Counsell said. “He’s taken a step forward since spring training like probably no other player we’ve ever had. You want to have as many guys like him that can take that step forward. With Porter, it happened pretty quickly.”
Hodge has a 32.5 percent strikeout rate and could lower his 10.8 percent walk rate, but the whiffs more than make up for it. His 95 mph four-seamer has a cut-ride action that fools hitters, and he dominates batters with his sweeper. The pitch has a 49.3 percent whiff rate (fourth highest among eligible pitchers), and batters are hitting .054 against it.
“Porter has been outstanding,” Craig Counsell said of Porter Hodge, who has risen quickly since spring training. (Darren Yamashita / USA Today)
Through his results, he has earned Counsell’s trust and become one of the most important pitchers in the bullpen.
“Porter’s stuff was so good,” Counsell said. “He’s a talented kid and he’s doing it with really good shots. He gets the experience part every time he’s out there. That’s what you do with talented young players: you give them chances to get that experience. He’s a talented young player and he’s playing at a really high level.”
The veteran right-hander was released by the New York Mets after an unseemly outburst on the field that López almost immediately regretted. He was a dominant force for the Cubs. His material and results have turned 180 degrees in Chicago.
It’s not unusual for a pitcher to gain velocity as the season goes on. But López regularly hits 97 mph, and at 96.6 mph, his average sinker velocity in August is two ticks higher than it was in April. Hottovy said López feels more athletic and looser and has always been a physical guy with that kind of speed. But at least part of the reason is because of something they recognized early on in his throwing.
“(Assistant pitching coach) Daniel Moskos spent a lot of time training him and working on that,” Hottovy said. “When he gets into position, you see him do that counter-rotation where he puts the back foot forward. He did it, but it wasn’t as purposeful. He did it almost as a rhythm drill, but we reminded him, ‘You do this to position your hips, and when you lift up, you’re athletic and you go.'”
This has allowed López to catch up in all areas. His slider has been absolutely awful lately, posting a nearly 70 percent whiff rate in August. He’s also changed his pitch mix. He almost exclusively uses his sinker and slider against right-handers, while left-handers see his curve, four-seamer and changeup more often. He’s basically two pitchers, depending on the hitter’s handedness.
López’s dominance has been an eye-opener for the organization, who knows he’s comfortable with bullpen coach Darren Holmes — who he played under in Colorado — and Counsell, who played together in Milwaukee. That, along with a strong group of pitching coaches who have helped López play his best, gives the team confidence that this is doable. If he stays healthy and continues to have success, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for López, who is a free agent after the season, to be offered a contract that keeps him through 2025.
(Top photo of Tyson Miller: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
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