Chicago Cubs Bullpen Projected As Major Weakness Despite Wave of Additions

The Chicago Cubs have added to their bullpen this winter, but it is still projected to be a major weakness in the coming year.

Oct 18, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians pitcher Eli Morgan (49) pitches against the New York Yankees in the fifth inning during game four of the ALCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Progressive Field / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs have been one of the more active teams this offseason, be it through free agency or on the trade market.

The club improved the offense drastically with the addition of Kyle Tucker in a trade with the Houston Astros, among other moves that were not as prominent, and added to their starting rotation with the free agent signing of Matthew Boyd, lengthening their unit and adding another veteran to the mix.

The Cubs also made strides to improve their bullpen this winter, one of their glaring weaknesses, by adding Eli Morgan through a trade with the Cleveland Guardians, signing Caleb Thielbar in free agency, and claiming Rob Zastryzny off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers.

Despite the wave of moves, Chicago's bullpen is still projected to be their major weakness in the coming campaign, with Fangraphs projecting the unit to combine for only 1.4 fWAR, the lowest mark of any contending team.

"FanGraphs projects only four bullpens to be worse than the Cubs’ pen in 2025," writes Eno Sarris in a recent article for The Athletic. "Young Porter Hodge and Nate Pearson have the stuff to dominate, and public projection systems may be missing that point. Jordan Rosenblum’s Stuff-driven projections have them a quarter-run better than the Steamer projections on FanGraphs do, at least. That said, they don’t come with much of a major-league track record and have 12 career saves between them. They both also throw right-handed. With Eli Morgan’s changeup in that pen, and Caleb Thielbar throwing lefty sweepers, maybe they’ll be OK against left-handed hitters. And maybe Julian Merryweather can come back and be more like he was in 2023 and less like he was in 2024."

It is not a unit that strikes fear in the hearts of many teams, especially if the starting pitcher for the day departs in a close game.

While there are other options available on the market, Tanner Scott is the best available and would instantly make this bullpen a force to be reckoned with.

The next best option would be Jeff Hoffman, who experienced a career resurgence in his two years with the Philadelphia Phillies, and turning 33 on Jan. 8 should bring him at a much more reasonable price if money is an issue for ownership.

The Cubs have done a lot of work this offseason to improve their club.

With pitchers and catchers reporting just around the corner, they still have work to do if they want to contend for more than just the National League Central.