No, I get it, Jed Hoyer’s had plenty of time over the years to build a strong contender in the NL Central and so far his efforts have been underwhelming. And yes, every team has injuries and the good ones are able to overcome them. However, if you would have told me back in March that the team’s top three relievers from last year would all be on the injured list at the same time by June, then yeah I probably would understand why the 2024 Cubs would be underachieving.
It’s not so much this individual injury, but Mark Leiter Jr. joining Adbert Alzolay and Julian Merryweather on the injured list really does put into perspective how bad the Cubs have had it with injuries in 2024. The Cubs announced the roster move prior to Sunday night’s series finale against the New York Mets.
The injured Leiter has a strained forearm and at this point it’s not clear how much time the right-handed pitcher will miss beyond the 15-day IL stint. Rookie lefty Luke Little replaced Leiter in the bullpen.
Leiter had been Craig Counsell’s most trusted reliever, but it was obvious that the 33-year-old was dealing with something as of late. From May 25 until his last appearance against the San Francisco Giants on June 19, Leiter gave up at least one earned run in 7 of 12 outings, posting a 15.58 ERA in 8.2 innings.
Prior to that horrid stretch, Leiter recorded a 0.90 ERA through his first 20 appearances of the season, allowing only 2 earned runs in 20 innings.
Last year, Leiter pitched in 69 games and recorded a 3.50 ERA in 64.1 innings, as he not only dominated left-handed hitters with his devastating splitter, but also became an overall weapon late in games out of the bullpen. The righty was repeating his success and actually far exceeding expectations through the middle of May this season, but Leiter has unfortunately followed the same fate as the Cubs’ other trusted relievers from a year ago.
The Cubs have been without Merryweather since April 5, as he’s missed most of the season because of a shoulder injury. Merryweather had a 3.38 ERA in 72 innings in 2023, as he was a major surprise as the set-up man. And of course, Cubs fans are well aware of Alzolay’s struggles this season after he was a top-20 relief pitcher in 2023. Alzolay has been sidelined since the beginning of June because of a forearm strain.
So yeah, Cubs fans aren’t lining up to defend Jed Hoyer right now, but no team goes into a season preparing for its top three relievers to get injured. Think about it, if just one of these guys remained healthy from the very start of this season, then the Cubs bullpen isn’t as bad.
Plus, factor in that Yency Almonte, who was part of the Michael Busch trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the offseason, was also looking great and then got injured too in early May.
The Cubs bullpen currently has a 4.39 ERA, which ranks 21st in MLB, but the big issue has been holding leads in the eighth and ninth innings. Cubs relievers have combined for 16 blown saves in 2024, which is tied for the second most blown saves among all 30 teams.
At 37-41, the Cubs are 8 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central beginning play on Monday.
I think Jed should be on the hot seat this season, but the only person’s opinion that matters on that is Tom Ricketts. No idea how he feels, but an argument could be made by Jed that maybe these pitching injuries were too much to overcome in 2024. Yet, we still have three months left of baseball and sadly for Hoyer the Cubs have other issues besides a subpar bullpen.
