NEWSLETTER
With Alexander Canario being sent to Iowa to open the season, we know the bench is now set, and now we can also say the bullpen is set.
Craig Counsell says Hayden Wesneski will be optioned to Iowa to open the season (Martinez), which means Luke Little and Jose Cuas are making the bullpen. They’ll join the six we already knew about: Adbert Alzolay, Julian Merryweather, Hector Neris, Mark Leiter Jr., Drew Smyly, and Yency Almonte.
At Iowa, the Cubs will have the option of keeping Wesneski stretched out as a fill-in starter, or more fully converting him to relief. Either way, he will be up and down this year to contribute, just as Little and Cuas may also go up and down at times to keep pitchers fresh (or as performance dictates). That’s part of the reason you want to have some optionable guys in the bullpen and at Iowa, as it can not only be used to maximize their development and performance, but also to maximize the performance of the entire big league staff if you’re strategic about it.
Also, once Jameson Taillon is ready to return from his back injury (mid-April-ish), the Cubs will have to do some shuffling anyway.
That is to say, this is the Opening Day bullpen group, but it’s hardly the entirety of the group of pitchers that will carry the Cubs through this season.
