Craig Counsell didn’t name a new Cubs closer Tuesday afternoon, shortly after Porter Hodge was formally placed on the injured list. He didn’t go into great detail about how roles and assignments might change with one of their high-leverage relievers out for a little while.

The Cubs will continue to use a by-committee approach to their late-inning work, as they have in recent weeks.

Counsell did concede, however, that his relief corps is feeling some fatigue.

“We’re a little tired in the bullpen,” the Cubs manager told reporters prior to Tuesday night’s game in Miami. “So, you know, availability is going to be an issue. And that means that the guys that are available are going to be thrust in some different spots.”

This won’t be the first time that relievers will be asked to fill new roles. While the bullpen’s 4.36 ERA ranks No. 19 in MLB, Counsell has been able to effectively mix and match well enough to win lots of games behind a productive offense.

The end of games, though, has been difficult. The Cubs have converted just 56 percent of their save opportunities — well below the league average and ranked in the league’s bottom third. Just seven teams have blown more saves.

The eighth such occurrence for the Cubs happened Monday night, when Daniel Palencia gave up a ground-rule double, a four-pitch walk and a game-winning triple after the Marlins were down to their last strike. That has put Chicago’s bullpen front and center, especially with other aspects of the team faring so well.

“I feel like we had gotten into a pretty good groove with Palencia, (Brad) Keller and Hodge in the back,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Tuesday morning on 670 The Score. “The two lefties had been throwing well. That formula had been working well for us. Then Porter goes down with the oblique injury — we hope it’s not too serious — but we can’t play short-handed back there. Now we have to figure it out again. That’s the nature of how it’s going to be. We’re going to need guys to step up.

“We, candidly, need more innings out of our starters. … We’re going to need these guys to get into the sixth and maybe the seventh in order to rest these guys a little bit. Otherwise, they get overtaxed.”

Fixing the bullpen won’t come simply from guys stepping up or performing better. Hoyer said he’ll fortify it with trades later in the season.

“There’s no question that the bullpen is going to be aided by outside help, whether that’s big transactions or small,” Hoyer said on the “Mully and Haugh Show.” “I think there’s no question we’re going to continue to add guys.”

That big-splash trade will not happen soon. Hoyer said too many teams believe they’re still in it and will not sell off important parts right now, so a move like that could happen deeper into the summer.

“Thinking about big external transactions, that’s really at least a month away, if not more,” Hoyer told The Score. “I think we’ve got to focus on smaller transactions and we got to focus on getting healthy and have our own guys be effective.”