How good is our bullpen?

[Northside Blues]

It's no secret that last year was historically bad, even for us. Here are the RAs for our pens since 2006

 

 

2010 5.57

2009 4.21

2008 4.57

2007 3.90

2006 4.51

 

That's a full run worse than the second worst. If you replace our pen with the average 2006-09 RA our pythag wins would go from 72.7 to 79.3, a whopping 6.5 wins. If you replaced it with a 4.10 RA pen, we'd be at .500. Regardless just by sheer luck our pen should be right where it was on average from 06-09. Marshall-Wood-Marmol is going to be great if they're healthy. So even if our rotation and offense don't improve this year we should be looking at an 79-80 win team. Of course our offense will be better. Rotation won't. That will put us in the low to mid 80s.

 

Just some food for thought. Our pen has given up 7 runs in 19 innings thus far, a 3.31 RA. We won't keep that up, but if we did it would have us starting at 85 wins :(. It's why we've got a great shot to be the 2008 Rays.

[dew1679666265]

On a more specific note, I'm curious about just what to expect from Wood. It's interesting that you seem to expect him to be great (if healthy) since he was terrible for about a full year and a half with Cleveland and then even though he was great for half a year in New York, there seemed to be quite a bit of luck involved.

 

I know we shouldn't expect the dominant numbers he posted with the Yankees, but is he that likely to be great if he stays healthy, or is he more of a performance question mark?

[JonJayCutler]

When we dip into our bullpen with a lead I like our chances, since we'll be using some combo of Marshall-Wood-Marmol most of the time.

 

It's the times when we're trailing where things will probably just snowball. Grabow, Mateo, Samardzija, and Stevens/Russell are all pretty bad.

[JonJayCutler]

Speaking of Stevens, why the hell is he up over Scott Maine?

[Illini Iceman]

When we dip into our bullpen with a lead I like our chances, since we'll be using some combo of Marshall-Wood-Marmol most of the time.

 

It's the times when we're trailing where things will probably just snowball. Grabow, Mateo, Samardzija, and Stevens/Russell are all pretty bad.

 

How many teams have relievers 4-7 that are really much better than those guys?

[dew1679666265]

When we dip into our bullpen with a lead I like our chances, since we'll be using some combo of Marshall-Wood-Marmol most of the time.

 

It's the times when we're trailing where things will probably just snowball. Grabow, Mateo, Samardzija, and Stevens/Russell are all pretty bad.

 

Russell is actually a pretty good option as a LOOGY and is about as good a middle relief option as you're going to find without overpaying considerably. Stevens and Mateo are still young with good potential (especially Stevens) and we could see considerable improvement from both over the course of the season. Both Grabow and Shark are likely lost causes, but have a chance to be decent enough for middle relief guys.

[Sammy Sofa]

It's the times when we're trailing where things will probably just snowball. Grabow, Mateo, Samardzija, and Stevens/Russell are all pretty bad.

 

Oh, come on.

[otis89]

On a more specific note, I'm curious about just what to expect from Wood. It's interesting that you seem to expect him to be great (if healthy) since he was terrible for about a full year and a half with Cleveland and then even though he was great for half a year in New York, there seemed to be quite a bit of luck involved.

 

I know we shouldn't expect the dominant numbers he posted with the Yankees, but is he that likely to be great if he stays healthy, or is he more of a performance question mark?

 

Wood was pretty good in '07 and '08 for the Cubs.

[JonJayCutler]

I'm actually fine with Russell and Mateo for now, and I'm willing to see if Grabow can have a rebound year. It's mainly Samardzija and Stevens that I've seen enough of.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I'm actually fine with Russell and Mateo for now, and I'm willing to see if Grabow can have a rebound year. It's mainly Samardzija and Stevens that I've seen enough of.

 

We havnt seen any of Stevens yet. Ill give you Samardzija though.

[JonJayCutler]

We havnt seen any of Stevens yet.

 

Although his sample size is fairly small, he's 27 and has yet to show he can be a serviceable MLB reliever. His control has become an issue, as we even saw in AAA last year (5.5 BB/9).

 

I suppose we'll see how he does. I certainly have more hope left for him than I do Samardzija.

[biittner77]

On a more specific note, I'm curious about just what to expect from Wood. It's interesting that you seem to expect him to be great (if healthy) since he was terrible for about a full year and a half with Cleveland and then even though he was great for half a year in New York, there seemed to be quite a bit of luck involved.

 

I know we shouldn't expect the dominant numbers he posted with the Yankees, but is he that likely to be great if he stays healthy, or is he more of a performance question mark?

 

While he was with the Yankees, Mariano Rivera taught him how to get people out.

[Illini Iceman]

On a more specific note, I'm curious about just what to expect from Wood. It's interesting that you seem to expect him to be great (if healthy) since he was terrible for about a full year and a half with Cleveland and then even though he was great for half a year in New York, there seemed to be quite a bit of luck involved.

 

I know we shouldn't expect the dominant numbers he posted with the Yankees, but is he that likely to be great if he stays healthy, or is he more of a performance question mark?

 

While he was with the Yankees, Mariano Rivera taught him how to get people out.

 

And just brushing against Jeter a few times while walking past him in the dugout probably made Wood a winner.

[otis89]

On a more specific note, I'm curious about just what to expect from Wood. It's interesting that you seem to expect him to be great (if healthy) since he was terrible for about a full year and a half with Cleveland and then even though he was great for half a year in New York, there seemed to be quite a bit of luck involved.

 

I know we shouldn't expect the dominant numbers he posted with the Yankees, but is he that likely to be great if he stays healthy, or is he more of a performance question mark?

 

While he was with the Yankees, Mariano Rivera taught him how to get people out.

 

And just brushing against Jeter a few times while walking past him in the dugout probably made Wood a winner.

 

Wood has actually been to the playoffs 4 times as a Cub.

[Guest]

On a more specific note, I'm curious about just what to expect from Wood. It's interesting that you seem to expect him to be great (if healthy) since he was terrible for about a full year and a half with Cleveland and then even though he was great for half a year in New York, there seemed to be quite a bit of luck involved.

 

I know we shouldn't expect the dominant numbers he posted with the Yankees, but is he that likely to be great if he stays healthy, or is he more of a performance question mark?

 

While he was with the Yankees, Mariano Rivera taught him how to get people out.

 

And just brushing against Jeter a few times while walking past him in the dugout probably made Wood a winner.

 

Wood has actually been to the playoffs 4 times as a Cub.

 

No World Series appearances as a Cub, though, which means he's a choker who couldn't handle the big stage.

[dew1679666265]

Wood was pretty good in '07 and '08 for the Cubs.

 

For a guy his age, though, the past 1-2 years are probably more indicative of what he is now than how he did 3-4 years ago. Don't take this as me arguing he'll be bad, I honestly don't know what we're going to get out of Wood this year.

 

Just hoping somebody else might have a good idea of what to expect and why.

[biittner77]

Wood was pretty good in '07 and '08 for the Cubs.

 

For a guy his age, though, the past 1-2 years are probably more indicative of what he is now than how he did 3-4 years ago. Don't take this as me arguing he'll be bad, I honestly don't know what we're going to get out of Wood this year.

 

Just hoping somebody else might have a good idea of what to expect and why.

 

Mariano Rivera taught Wood how to throw the cut fastball that Rivera has used to be good at baseball. Wood started using the pitch and was basically lights out from that point on.

[Northside Blues]

On a more specific note, I'm curious about just what to expect from Wood. It's interesting that you seem to expect him to be great (if healthy) since he was terrible for about a full year and a half with Cleveland and then even though he was great for half a year in New York, there seemed to be quite a bit of luck involved.

 

I know we shouldn't expect the dominant numbers he posted with the Yankees, but is he that likely to be great if he stays healthy, or is he more of a performance question mark?

 

While he was with the Yankees, Mariano Rivera taught him how to get people out.

 

And just brushing against Jeter a few times while walking past him in the dugout probably made Wood a winner.

 

Wood has actually been to the playoffs 4 times as a Cub.

 

Yeah but we would have won Game 7 in 2003 if Wood had come in contact with Jeter.

[Deder]

Should be a decent bullpen, it will be an epic bullpen if umpires continue to call strikes for Marmol on a regular basis when he basically never throws a strike ever. Never seen a pitcher with such bad control get so many balls called strikes though I guess I'm glad he does.

[Guest]

Should be a decent bullpen, it will be an epic bullpen if umpires continue to call strikes for Marmol on a regular basis when he basically never throws a strike ever. Never seen a pitcher with such bad control get so many balls called strikes though I guess I'm glad he does.

 

You're almost as bad at compliments as hitters are at touching Marmol's pitches.

[TruffleShuffle]

i've seen plenty of times when that bugs bunny slider breaks right into the strike zone and the ump misses it because he, like the batter, gave up on the pitch before it reached the plate.

[Outshined_One]

Should be a decent bullpen, it will be an epic bullpen if umpires continue to call strikes for Marmol on a regular basis when he basically never throws a strike ever. Never seen a pitcher with such bad control get so many balls called strikes though I guess I'm glad he does.

 

:-s

[champaignchris]

Other than Jeff Samardzija - who seems to have cured his inability to miss bats by simply not throwing the ball anywhere near the plate - the bullpen has been pretty good through the first nine games. If the bullpen has a collective 3.70 ERA at the end of the season, we'll consider it a team strength.

[SouthSideRyan]

I feel the need to point out that we got Marcos Mateo in a trade for Buck Coats.

[Hawk4Hall]

Other than Jeff Samardzija - who seems to have cured his inability to miss bats by simply not throwing the ball anywhere near the plate - the bullpen has been pretty good through the first nine games. If the bullpen has a collective 3.70 ERA at the end of the season, we'll consider it a team strength.

Agree. Samardzija is the glaring flaw in a otherwise very good bullpen.