NEWSLETTER
After a breakout season for the Chicago Cubs last year (2.74 ERA), Brian Duensing has had a much harder time here in the first-half of 2018. Through 26.0 IP, he’s got a 6.92 ERA, 5.71 FIP, plus a walk rate (16.1%) bigger than his strikeout rate (13.7%).
And after allowing two earned runs on two hits and two walks in just 1.0 inning yesterday, he’s hitting the disabled list with left-shoulder fatigue today. Bummer.
Duensing played a very important role in the Cubs bullpen last season, and was even leaned on heavily at the start of this year, too. Plus, with Justin Wilson oscillating between awesome and, well, the opposite of that and Mike Montgomery in the rotation for the time being, his left-handed arm in the bullpen was well-needed (Randy Rosario is the only other lefty for now). But whether this shoulder fatigue is a true injury or more of an opportunity to reset him a bit, it was probably time for a little breather anyway.
In his place, the Cubs are calling up Dillon Maples, who, when he can command his fastball, has the opportunity to be one of the most dominant relievers on the team thanks to a frisbee-like slider, tailor-made for gifs:
https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1012292971646111745
Seriously, while I’m bummed to see Duensing go down (both because injuries suck and because we’ve all seen what he can do when he’s on), getting another look at Dillon Maples is about as good of a consolation prize as it gets. With any luck, Maples (a righty, by the way), will have some better command and get a real chance to show off what he can do in over an extended look in the big leagues.
The Cubs bullpen picture now looks like this:
Anthony Bass
Steve Cishek
Luke Farrell
Brandon Morrow
Randy Rosario
Pedro Strop
Justin Wilson
Dillon Maples
