It's Not Too Late to Call David Robertson, but the Cubs Shouldn't Do So Just Yet

[Matthew Trueblood]

Through six games, the Cubs' reshuffled, reinforced bullpen hasn't looked good. For fans, the impulse is to demand immediate action, but the front office's job is to maintain perspective and be patient.

Image courtesy of © Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

For some fans, the juttering destabilization and freefall of Sunday's blown lead against the Diamondbacks brought a far-too-familiar-tasting portion of their stomach up to the back of the throat. The game felt so much like late 2023, when no lead the lineup built could be enough. It felt, most of all, like the infamous game last April in San Diego, where the Padres slowly worked their way back from an 8-0 deficit and laid bare the vulnerability of the whole Chicago relief corps.

In those prior cases, you could point out the potency of the offense(s) against whom Cubs hurlers proved so ineffective, but it felt thin and watery—like an excuse, not a real explanation. At the outset of an anxious season, many will feel the same way about any similar argument this time. Nor is that without merit, There are real and reasonable questions to be asked about the likes of Nate Pearson (four walks and just two strikeouts in 19 batters faced), Ryan Pressly (four walks, one strikeout), Ryan Brasier and more. Jed Hoyer and company leaned into amassing depth and embraced a lower-velocity, lower-whiff set of profiles in the wake of losing out on Tanner Scott; that comes with significant risk.

At the same time, the case is a sound one—better, even, than the one you could make for not sweating the collapse against the Padres last year. There's a case to be made that the Diamondbacks have the league's most potent offense. If they don't, they're in the top three, with depth, a balance of skills and handednesses, and true superstars in the persons of Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll. The Cubs bullpen got knocked around in a four-game series in the desert, by an elite run-production outfit for whom they're an especially poor matchup right now. If Pearson can get back on track, or if the team ends up trusting and turning to younger, harder-throwing arms Luke Little, Daniel Palencia and Jack Neely later in the season, or if the team makes further additions at (or before) the trade deadline, they'll be much better able to contain Arizona's offense. 

It's utterly unsatisfying, but sometimes, the most salient fact about a game or series is that you ran into a very good opponent at a very bad time. Unfortunately, though, the Cubs have another date with the Snakes at Wrigley Field in the third week of April, so they can ill afford to just wait out this stretch and have a better assemblage ready later in the year. If they have a new-look late-season bullpen, it'll never see the likes of Josh Naylor, unless the two teams meet in the postseason.

Free agent David Robertson has made no announcement about his future. He's very old, and signing him would feed into the same narrative some want to build around the "Age" column of the current bullpen's stat sheet, but in fact, Robertson was not only dominant in 2024, but harder-throwing than ever. He's a former Cub, so the front office has some level of existing familiarity and comfort with him. They don't have that pre-existing intimacy with Lance Lynn, but they could circle back to him as a bullpen option; he marketed himself to some teams as a late-game reliever this winter. They're also one of the teams who has most closely monitored Brooks Raley's rehab from Tommy John surgery, and could sign him to fortify the lefty side of the pen.

Each of those players has been on the team's radar already, and they might circle back to one of them if the relief unit continues to scuffle this week in West Sacramento. For now, though, the best advice is not to let a hard weekend at Chase Field plunge you too deeply into despairing reminiscences about the last two seasons. This team is better and deeper than that one; this bullpen has a higher floor and a higher ceiling. It's just not yet clear whether either thing is high enough.

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[Yall Illin]

How about cutting down the walks for a start?

[gflore34]

Robertson, Raley, Lynn always old or one off types, never true quality.

[JBears79]

I'm not worried about Pressley just yet but I will admit to being nervous. Having Hodge ready to compete for the closer role eases my nerves but Pressley needs to get it together.

 

I'm all for signing Robertson either way.