Busch walk-off homer eases pressure on Cubs bullpen
The Cubs bullpen won a game Tuesday.
Hector Neris got the notch in his stat column after holding San Diego scoreless in the top of the ninth. Michael Busch then sent the first pitch in the bottom of the inning into the right-field bleachers, giving the Cubs a 3-2 walk-off victory at Wrigley Field.
This was Busch's first home run since his streak of going deep in five straight games ended on April 15 in Arizona. Rain began to fall heavily just before Busch stepped to the plate against Padres pitcher Enyel De Los Santos.
“I don't think I've ever had a walk-off home run in my past, so it was pretty cool,” Busch said. “I was trying to gear up for a fastball. Right before the at-bat, Dansby (Swanson) was like, 'He's going to throw you a heater.' I think that got me in the lens of, 'Be ready for the heater and try not to miss it.'”
Manager Craig Counsell tried to delay putting faith in the struggling Cubs bullpen Tuesday, but it backfired when Shota Imanaga gave up a 2-run homer to Jurickson Profar on his 102nd pitch of the game in the eighth inning.
Before that Imanaga extended the Cubs' streak of consecutive scoreless innings by starting pitchers to 30. Over the past nine games Cubs starters have posted a 1.00 ERA, while the bullpen is 5.19.
Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer talked about the state of the bullpen Monday.
“What you really need is to be able to win three or four games in a row and use all sorts of different guys in the back of the bullpen,” Hoyer said. “I don't think we're there yet. Certainly having that sort of dominant closer is something we all want. For winning and our own anxiety, I think that would be a wonderful thing.”
The Cubs made a flurry of moves before Tuesday's game, activating Cody Bellinger from the injured list and bringing back reliever Keegan Thompson. Reliever Daniel Palencia went on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain and Alexander Canario was sent to Iowa.
Bellinger made a quick return from two fractured ribs, but seemed healthy when he homered in his second at bat, giving the Cubs a 1-0 lead that stood until the top of the eighth.
The Cubs have tried and failed to develop their own hard-throwing closer, usually due to injuries. Codi Heuer, Brailyn Marquez, Ben Leeper and Burl Carraway are a few names that come to mind.
It doesn't seem likely the answer is in the Cubs' minor leagues right now. They do have a couple of veterans in Iowa waiting for a shot, Carl Edwards Jr. and lefty Brad Wieck. Jose Cuas and Luke Little are trying to work their way back to the majors.
“When I think back to some very calm moments in my career, having Jonathan Papelbon and Aroldis Chapman back there, it's a good feeling,” Hoyer said. “I wouldn't mind getting back to that where you feel like you can pack up your stuff in the ninth inning and not have a lot of anxiety.”
There isn't an obvious trade target right now. Miami closer Tanner Scott may be available at some point. He's on an expiring contract and has 37 career saves.
The Marlins already made one move, sending batting-average specialist Luis Arraez to the Padres last week. Hoyer doesn't think that's a sign Miami is open for business.
“I think that was a rare one-off,” Hoyer said. “My guess is it was discussed in the off-season. There's not a lot of deals available this time of year. We're in touch, we're on the phone with everybody, but you have to at least get more into the season before those things become a reality.”
The current state of the Cubs bullpen is Mark Leiter Jr. has been far and away the best of the bunch, with a 0.59 ERA. Julian Merryweather is on the 60-day injured list and can't return until June.
Neris, Yency Almonte, Colten Brewer and Thompson have been OK. Thompson seems best suited for a long relief role. Over the course of his career, he has a 9.22 ERA on one day rest, 1.20 on three days rest.
Ultimately, if the starters stay healthy, the Cubs will likely try to turn Ben Brown and Hayden Wesneski into bullpen weapons. Hoyer is also hoping for a turnaround from Adbert Alzolay, using Michael Fulmer last year as an example of a reliever who turned it around after a rough start.
“My hope is Adbert rights the ship and gets back to where he was last year,” Hoyer said. “He was such a good reliever for us and obviously hasn't gotten off to that start right now. But it doesn't mean he can't turn the page in the way that Michael did.”
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