The Cubs face a crucial offseason in 2024-25. Before it begins, Cubs writers Tony Andracki and Andy Martínez address 5 key areas of the team — and why you should and shouldn’t be optimistic about them. First up, the Cubs bullpen.

Andy Martinez: The Cubs bullpen was a story of two halves — and you could argue it’s the reason they’re sitting at home in October and not chasing the Commissioner’s trophy this month.

Over their first 81 games, the relief corps was a bugaboo — they had the 2nd-most blown saves (17) in baseball, the 6th-worst ERA (4.52) and the 9th-worst OPS against (.721). It was a team that was giving up hits, leaking runs and turning wins into losses.

What does the team look like if they’re even league average in that stretch? Well, if they had been league average in blown saves (11), they’d be 6 games better — or the difference between a playoff spot and an 83-win team.

Hoyer and his staff have to solve the bullpen quicker. An area that felt deep and potentially a strength in spring turned into a worry and a question mark less than a month into the season when their closer, Adbert Alzolay, struggled and injuries hit Julian Merryweather and Yency Almonte.

A repeat in 2025 could mean another season without the playoffs.

There are young relievers that thrived this season — Porter Hodge and Luke Little are the prime names — but the Cubs felt good about Alzolay at the same time last year and injuries and ineffectiveness meant he was practically a non-factor in 2024.

[MORE: What Cubs learned about early season bullpen woes]

Relievers — especially young ones — can be volatile. Success isn’t guaranteed. Their most trusted veteran reliever late in the season, Jorge López, is a free agent. Drew Smyly, their lone lefty at the end of the season (and for most of the year) hits the open market, too. Almonte and Merryweather are arbitration-eligible this offseason and could be non-tendered.

The experience thins in an area where it might be valued the most. The Cubs need to get their bullpen right in 2025 — it could be the difference between three straight years of 83 wins and a playoff berth.

[MORE: Who are some internal breakthrough candidates for Cubs in 2025?]

Tony Andracki: Those are all good points, Andy. Relievers are notoriously volatile, but the Cubs have to find a way to ensure that their bullpen as a whole is not volatile.

Simply put: They need better consistency from this group. A level of consistency we have not seen the last couple of years.

Any bullpen is going to have its struggles throughout the course of a marathon 162-game season and the Cubs have proven they can adjust on the fly and turn the unit around midseason. The key is starting a season out with the bullpen as an asset.

And I think the Cubs are well on their way to that goal.

For starters, 2025 will represent Year 2 for Counsell in the Cubs organization. That will be huge in terms of comfortability, familiarity and understanding of how the entire organization operates. For a manager who has been tabbed as a bullpen whisperer, this should pay dividends as Counsell helps make roster decisions and finds the right spots to utilize each reliever.

[WATCH: Jed Hoyer’s complete end-of-season press conference]

For added continuity, pitching coaches Tommy Hottovy and Daniel Moskos will also return. And Hoyer understands the importance this offseason will carry in building up the strength of the bullpen.

Last offseason, the Cubs were quiet on the relief front. Héctor Neris represented the only significant addition via free agency and Almonte was acquired from the Dodgers in the Michael Busch trade.

Beyond that, Hoyer’s front office mostly settled for internal candidates to build the 2024 bullpen.

“Being self-critical, I feel like [the bullpen] is something that I didn’t do a good job of last offseason,” Hoyer said at his end-of-season presser. “…When Adbert struggled early, when Neris struggled early, when Julian got hurt, we didn’t have the depth at that point that we needed. That’s something we’ll certainly look to improve going forward.

“Because I feel like that hurt us early. We were able to improve it – our bullpen numbers in the second half of the season were really, really strong and among the top in baseball. But at a critical moment when those guys struggled and were hurt early, we didn’t have enough depth in that moment and that hurt us. So that’s something we have to address.”

That quote right there underscores the importance the bullpen will have throughout this offseason.

The Cubs have had a knack for finding quality relievers under the radar. Merryweather was a waiver claim, Mark Leiter Jr. was a minor-league signing, Jorge López was a great midseason addition while Tyson Miller and Nate Pearson proved to be strong trade acquisitions.

Now Hoyer and Co. have to find more of those players this offseason while also adding valuable experience and stability at the back end of the bullpen. Hodge was a great success story in 2024 and there very well ay be other young pitchers coming up through the Cubs system that will have an impact in the big-league bullpen.

[MORE: Did Porter Hodge just put together the best season by a rookie reliever in Cubs history?]

But the Cubs need proven high-leverage relievers to help mitigate some of the natural ups and downs that accompany a bullpen each season – whether brought about by injuries or ineffectiveness.

I’m betting the Cubs will be aggressive building their bullpen this winter based on Hoyer’s honest assessment and the front office has proven they are adept at finding impact relievers.

Combine all that with the consistency on the coaching staff and the quality options that are already on the roster and all the pieces are there for the Cubs to boast a strong bullpen in 2025.

Yin and Yang Series:

How do the Cubs build a top-level bullpen in 2025?
Is the Cubs offense in a good spot?
Will the Cubs rotation remain the strength of this team?
Catching is a top priority for the Cubs this offseason
Are the Cubs set up to be a playoff team in 2025?