HOUSTON — Cubs manager David Ross called for left-hander Brandon Hughes to start warming up after Keegan Thompson gave up a first-pitch single to Yainer Diaz in the ninth inning. The game was threatening to extend into the left-handed pocket near the top of the Astros’ batting order.
A two-run home run and a walk later, there was no reason to wait. Ross walked out to the mound to make the final pitching change in what would become a 7-6 walk-off loss Wednesday.
“We’ve got to win that game,” Ross said. “We’ve got to pitch better on the back end.”
The Cubs’ fifth loss in a row encapsulated their bullpen conundrum.
Just starting to pry open their competitive window, the Cubs didn’t sign a bona fide closer in the offseason. So, Ross was always going to be playing matchups at the back end of the bullpen. But entering the season, they were at least expecting Michael Fulmer and Brad Boxberger to take the eighth and ninth innings more often than not.
Boxberger has the most experience late in games, but mechanical issues stemming from an early groin injury seemed to play into a decline in performance. Now, Boxberger is on the 15-day IL with what the team called a strained right forearm.
“There’s not a zero level of concern,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Monday. “Obviously, he doesn’t doesn’t feel great. And we’ll give him a few days, and if it doesn’t feel good, we’ll move on to the next step.”
Boxberger left Houston on Wednesday to return to Chicago for further evaluation, which will give the Cubs a better idea of how long he’ll be out.
Fulmer was the closest thing the Cubs had to a closer early on. He’s also been unlucky, as evidenced by a 4.30 FIP, compared to a 7.50 ERA. He struggled against the Dodgers in two series and quickly worked back from that rough patch. But on Monday, he gave up the winning two-run home run to Alex Bregman in the seventh inning.
“Being candid, nobody’s really grabbed the back end of the bullpen role,” Ross said.
The Cubs were able to work around that fact early, and the bullpen outperformed expectations. But since the beginning of this month, Cubs relievers have posted a 5.28 ERA, the second-worst mark in the National League.
Without a closer, or even a back-end tandem, plotting out a bullpen plan and adjusting it in-game looks a little different.
“Working from the ninth backwards is usually how you do it when you have that luxury,” Ross said. “And right now, we’re just trying to leverage it in the seventh or in the eighth and throw our best guy, and we’ll get to the ninth and see who can hold that for us right now.”
The Cubs have also been working around other factors lately. Short starts have taxed the bullpen. Day-to-day recovery affects which relievers are available, especially after multi-inning outings, or even labored single-inning outings.
Flu-like symptoms have been going around, affecting reliever Adbert Alzolay — along with first baseman Trey Mancini and starter Justin Steele. And Hughes is managing left-knee inflammation, so Ross doesn’t want to “waste any bullets” by having him warm up and then sit back down.
Splitter-tossing Mark Leiter Jr. has established himself as the Cubs’ most reliable arm in late-inning high-leverage, as well as a weapon against lefties. So, Ross will save him for those situations, but that comes with its own balancing act.
“I don’t want to save my best pitcher too many times on the back end if we don’t get to the ninth with a lead,” Ross said before the game Wednesday. “So, got to start leveraging him maybe in the seventh if it comes up and we really need him.”
That’s what Ross did Wednesday in the eighth inning, with the top of the order and a pocket of lefties coming up. But Leiter, who hadn’t pitched in a game in five days, looked rusty and gave up two runs.
The Cubs still had a three-run lead going into the ninth inning. Ross called on Thompson to face the bottom of the order. He gave up a single and a two-run home run, and then put the tying run on first with a walk.
Hughes came in, with a runner on, no outs, and little room for error while facing the top of the order. He hit his spots around the edges of the strike zone, and the Astros still found a way to push two runs across the plate on Kyle Tucker’s one-out walk-off single.
“I think we’re just excited to get out of this city,” starter Drew Smyly said after holding the Astros to one run through six innings. “We’ve seen enough of it.”
CUBS AT PHILLIES
Friday: Marcus Stroman (2-4, 3.24) vs. Ranger Suarez (0-0, 6.75), 6:05 p.m., Marquee, 670-AM
Saturday: Jameson Taillon (0-2, 6.66) vs. Aaron Nola (3-3, 4.53), 3:05 p.m., Marquee, 670-AM
Sunday: Justin Steele (6-1, 2.44) vs. TBD, 12:35 p.m., Marquee, 670-AM
