In a 162-game season, bullpen pitchers are going to have bad stretches.
Sometimes, those stretches are going to overlap.
There’s nothing terribly abnormal about what the Cubs are experiencing right now, a string of bad days for the relief corps.
But it’s the time of year when the lights are getting bright. A bullpen that has been generally effective throughout much of the summer is having a rough go at a bad time.
In the span of 11 games, righty closer Jacob Webb coughed up walk-off home runs in consecutive outings, righty Trent Thornton was rocked for six runs and three homers in a pair of appearances against the Reds, and righty fireballer Daniel Palencia gave up the lead to the Brewers, balking a run home and serving up a game-flipping homer — though he was one of four relievers to combine to allow six runs in that loss.
Not great.
Though there are several notable pitchers either rehabbing from injury or stashed in the minor leagues — righties Edward Cabrera, Shelby Miller and Javier Assad, plus lefty Justin Steele — it’s unknown how likely it is that those guys, aside from Assad, make significant contributions to the relief unit.
Instead of waiting for saviors, the Cubs are focused on steadying this group before the season’s most important games.
“You try to figure out: How are we going to be our best team? And it’s with these guys pitching well,” manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday. “These are the guys we need to pitch well. The way to do that is to get them back out there and have them pitch again.
“You get beat. And it’s no fun, and it stinks. But if you’re not confident, that’s how you get your confidence back. If you’re struggling with something, that’s how you find it. You find it out there on the field, when the competition’s going on and the other side’s trying to get you.
“These are guys we count on, and we need them. And the best way for us to be the best team is to get them back out there.”
These games, though, are important, too.
These bullpen blues could be a passing bummer. But any lingering problems could prove exceptionally costly down the stretch and into the playoffs.
Justin time?
Steele made his long-awaited return to game action Wednesday, making a minor league rehab appearance with Triple-A Iowa.
Steele has been out since April of last season, recovering from elbow surgery and a setback earlier this year.
He faced 10 batters Wednesday, retiring five of them and allowing three runs, only one earned, on four hits.
Though Steele is hopeful this is the next step in a return to the major league mound this season, Cubs brass has cautioned against assuming the southpaw will be able to pitch out of the team’s bullpen before the campaign’s end.
“I’m excited for him that he’s getting back out there,” team president Jed Hoyer said Tuesday. “As it relates to this team, we’ll see. We’re not in development mode at this point.
“If he can come back and he can help us, he’s going to come back and he’s going to help us. If there’s rust and he needs more time, it’s not the time to do that.
“I’m very open-minded, but I don’t know how this is going to go.”
Ramirez sits again
The Cubs kept infielder Pedro Ramirez out of the lineup for a third consecutive game Wednesday as he recovers from back spasms that popped up Sunday.
“I expect him to make a full recovery and be good to go very shortly,” Counsell said.
