Chicago Cubs Breakout Star May Have Answered Huge Offseason Worry

The Chicago Cubs breakout rookie may have given the team the answer a big looming question.

Sep 4, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Porter Hodge (37) celebrates teams win against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a baseball game at Wrigley Field. / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs spent most of the season with a question mark at a key role, but it looks like a surprising rookie may have eased their worries.

ESPN's Kiley McDaniel recently ranked the best rookies around MLB. While Porter Hodge didn't make one of the top-15 rankings, McDaniel still offered a take on the reliever.

"Hodge has pitched well enough that it looks as if he might now be the Cubs' closer of the future," said the writer.

The 23-year-old did not enter the season with his name etched into the plans of the franchise down the road, but Chicago would be foolish to overlook him given how he's performed throughout the year.

For the first few months, the Cubs threw a bunch of different names at the wall in search for a closer.

Adbert Alzolay had the job last season and did fairly well, so he was penciled in to be the guy early on. But before getting hurt, he blew five saves in his first 14 appearances, so something clearly needed to change.

Things got even worse for Alzolay when the team announced he would have to undergo Tommy John surgery, which means he won't be around for a while to reclaim his spot.

Hector Neris took over the role for a good stretch of the season, but got released in favor of giving some younger arms a chance. Neris is now back to the Houston Astros and has been just ok since.

Though some other names had been thrown around, Hodge has clearly become the team's closer and isn't looking to give the job up any time soon.

The Utah native was a 13th-round selection in the 2019 MLB draft out of high school.

He had a rocky first couple of seasons in the minor leagues as a starting pitcher, but switched to a bullpen role as that was his best shot to break into the Majors.

At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds it's not shocking he's a power-first pitcher who lives off of a great fastball that he pairs mostly with a devastating slider.

In his 27 appearances since being called up to the MLB roster, he's posted a 1.41 ERA with four saves and nine holds.

He's been great in save situations and looks ready to take the job into next season.

Chicago seems to have lucked into an answer for a key offseason question, now not having to make adding a closer one of their priorities.