It hasnt taken 3-4 months to find the right combos. It's been more like 3-4 weeks, if that. The Cubs bullpen last year pre trade deadline was:
- 2nd in innings
- 20th in ERA
- 5th in xFIP
- 4th in WPA
In 2021 it was:
- 6th in innings
- 6th in ERA
- 10th in xFIP
- 4th in WPA
The full year numbers have sucked because the units have been slashed to bits at the past two deadlines, but the groups they took north each year were very effective. That 20th in ERA last year sticks out like a sore thumb, but the divergence from the WPA tells you the story. The top half of the bullpen was very strong, and did their job in the games and situations that mattered. But since they had to cover so many innings with the SP woes, the bottom half had to go out there and wear it in a bunch of blowouts.
This year's pen is probably more settled than it has been coming out of ST since like 2017. This weekend sucked, and showed the cost of trying to get by with 0 lefties out there. But Hughes will be back by like the weekend so I get why they didn't want to burn someone on the 40 man for like two Ryan Borucki appearances.