Why Cubs are opting for four-man rotation and what it means for their pitching staff as a whole
HOUSTON — For the most part this season, the Cubs starting rotation had been dependable.
In two days, that staunch rotation was pushed to its limits.
On Saturday, starter Hayden Wesneski lasted just 5 innings against the Twins in an 11-1 loss and manager David Ross had to turn to four relievers to cover the final 3 innings of that game. Sunday, Marcus Stroman went just 2.2 innings, and the Cubs were forced to use 5 relievers and a position player for the rest of the game.
To remedy the taxed bullpen, the Cubs made a handful of roster moves Monday afternoon — they optioned Wesneski to Triple-A, placed Brad Boxberger on the 15-day IL with a right forearm strain, recalled Jeremiah Estrada and selected the contract of righty reliever Nick Burdi. To make room for Burdi on the 40-man roster, the Cubs transferred Adrian Sampson to the 60-day IL.
“This is the first time all year we’ve been in this situation where we’ve had two short starts and we’re scrambling a little bit,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “I mean really we hadn’t gotten blown out in so long and we had [it in] back-to-backs.”
Monday against the Astros, the Cubs faced another short outing from their starter, although this one was somewhat planned for since Jameson Taillon is working back from an injury and still building back up. He went 4.2 innings before David Ross turned to lefty Brandon Hughes to escape a 5th-inning situation with a runner on first.
Ross turned to four relievers to cover the rest of the game, including Estrada. Michael Fulmer, who gave up the go-ahead 2-run home run in the Cubs’ 6-4 loss, and Hughes pitched for the third straight game, another sign of their bullpen usage.
The additions of Burdi and Estrada immediately inject some innings and depth. Rucker, like Hughes and Fulmer, pitched on Saturday and Sunday. Julian Merryweather (33 pitches) and Keegan Thompson (27 pitches) pitched on Sunday, so they were down for Ross. The hope for the Cubs is that they’re able to weather this storm over the coming days.
“Sometimes during a course of the year, you get into a situation where you’re kinda playing a little bit night-to-night until you get an off day or until you get a good start,” Hoyer said. “Until we can reset, either with the off day or that start, I think we’ll be going through a little bit, playing catchup from the weekend.”
Boxberger’s injury seemingly explains some of his struggles this season. In 2021 and 2022, Boxberger pitched in 141 games, racking up 53 holds, posting a 3.15 ERA in that time and establishing himself as a premier set-up man with the Brewers. This season, he’s appeared in 17 games and posted a 5.52 ERA and a 1.500 WHIP.
The extent of his injury is unknown, but the Cubs hope to have him rest for a couple of days before reassessing the severity of the injury. If he’s still not 100%, then the team will opt to further evaluate him.
With the moves, the Cubs will turn to a four-man rotation in the short term.
Why?
Well, the Cubs have a pair of off days on Thursday and Monday, so they can keep those four starters on regular rotation with the off days.
That’s part of the reason why they were OK with optioning Wesneski. The schedule works in a way that they can go without him and carry that extra arm in the bullpen. At the same time, Wesneski can try and re-discover the form that helped him win the Cubs’ fifth starter job out of spring.
“He’s gonna make a lot of starts for us this year and he’ll be here for a long time,” Hoyer said. “There’s no real level of concern whatsoever, I just think he needs to execute a little better. I thought last year his execution was a touch better and I think that when he gets back to that point, he’s gonna be a really good starting pitcher for a long time.”
The Cubs won’t need to go through a full, 5-man rotation until the Reds series at the end of the month. May 28 would be the next time the Cubs would have to go to a starter on short rest.
By then, the Cubs could turn to Kyle Hendricks to start and fill the spot in the rotation. Hendricks threw 5 innings of 2-run ball on Sunday in a rehab start with the Iowa Cubs. Hendricks is expected to throw a bullpen session in the coming days with the big-league coaching staff so they can continue to assess his progression. He’ll likely make his next start with the Iowa Cubs.