This. Fucking. Bullpen.

[Quality Start Machine]

This fucking bullpen.

Fortunately, that fucking bullpen was worse.

[thehawk]

Is it me, or does CEJ have issues going on the second day of back to back outings?

[SKO]

Is it me, or does CEJ have issues going on the second day of back to back outings?

It's not just you. If he has 1 day in between outings he's got an opponent OPS against of .509 and his ERA is 2.49. On 0 Days rest he has an opponent OPS against of .745 and an ERA 3.38.

Weirdly enough his worst numbers have come when he's had 2 days off in between appearances. Some of this is probably just small sample size weirdness, but it does seem like he benefits from fairly regular usage with a day in between each appearance.

[Saul Goodman]

Maybe I should be more worried about this bullpen than I have been most of the season. Especially with an eye toward postseason high leverage situations. 

They only really have one guy they can count on, Wade Davis, and even he has had his bouts with shakiness.

Duensing and Edwards are effective to a certain extent but not always reliably so -- Carl has had some really bad meltdowns and can't pitch every day (despite Joe's belief to the contrary) and while Duensing has had a solid season I don't know if I trust that to continue.

The next tier down is Strop and Montgomery: great in certain spots, but inconsistent and prone to giving up more than their fair share of runs.

After that, it's who-the-hell-knows with Grimm, Rondon, and Wilson.

I don't think there's much they can do at this point. Did Britton clear waivers?

[Brownie]

Justin Wilson might be the worst reliever the Cubs have ever had. Grimm possibly second-worst.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Justin Wilson might be the worst reliever the Cubs have ever had. Grimm possibly second-worst.

I just got hit in the head with the toy TJ threw across the room.

[Yeti]

Justin Wilson might be the worst reliever the Cubs have ever had. Grimm possibly second-worst.

I just got hit in the head with the toy TJ threw across the room.

Must be nice to have forgotten the Jose Veras era

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Maybe I should be more worried about this bullpen than I have been most of the season. Especially with an eye toward postseason high leverage situations.  

They only really have one guy they can count on, Wade Davis, and even he has had his bouts with shakiness.

Duensing and Edwards are effective to a certain extent but not always reliably so -- Carl has had some really bad meltdowns and can't pitch every day (despite Joe's belief to the contrary) and while Duensing has had a solid season I don't know if I trust that to continue.

The next tier down is Strop and Montgomery: great in certain spots, but inconsistent and prone to giving up more than their fair share of runs.

After that, it's who-the-hell-knows with Grimm, Rondon, and Wilson.

I don't think there's much they can do at this point. Did Britton clear waivers?

I'll be honest--I'm not as worried about the bullpen as their regular season would normally lead someone to be.  At least I don't know whether the Cubs bullpen is really any better or worse than any of the teams they'll be squaring off against in the playoffs.  The bullpen was average-to-good in the first half (Davis and Edwards were pretty good, on balance, and in any event they were not to blame for the team's sluggish 1st half nearly as much as the rotation).  It hurt when CEJ blew two games in a week against playoff-caliber teams at a time when the Cubs had sort of turned things around and which prevented them from having an even more monstrous start to the second half.  Shit, if CEJ is Good CEJ in that week the Cubs go 4-2 against AZ and WASH instead of the opposite and everyone's probably a little more optimistic.  They're certainly pretty uneven right now and not exactly exuding confidence, but there're still 6 weeks for them to get it straight and--for the one millionth time it seems it should be said--this year and this division has luckily afforded them all season to get their shit straight.  

TL;DR: Edwards, Strop and Wade will be as good as any other playoff team's bullpen, even LA's (I also think Wilson will have turned it around by September.  He fucking better).

[Tonker]

Maybe I should be more worried about this bullpen than I have been most of the season. Especially with an eye toward postseason high leverage situations.  

They only really have one guy they can count on, Wade Davis, and even he has had his bouts with shakiness.

Duensing and Edwards are effective to a certain extent but not always reliably so -- Carl has had some really bad meltdowns and can't pitch every day (despite Joe's belief to the contrary) and while Duensing has had a solid season I don't know if I trust that to continue.

The next tier down is Strop and Montgomery: great in certain spots, but inconsistent and prone to giving up more than their fair share of runs.

After that, it's who-the-hell-knows with Grimm, Rondon, and Wilson.

I don't think there's much they can do at this point. Did Britton clear waivers?

I'll be honest--I'm not as worried about the bullpen as their regular season would normally lead someone to be.  At least I don't know whether the Cubs bullpen is really any better or worse than any of the teams they'll be squaring off against in the playoffs.  The bullpen was average-to-good in the first half (Davis and Edwards were pretty good, on balance, and in any event they were not to blame for their sluggish 1st half nearly as much as the rotation).  It hurt when CEJ blew two games in a week against playoff-caliber teams at a time when the Cubs has sort of turned things around and which prevented them from having an even more monstrous start to the second half.  Shit, if CEJ is Good CEJ in that week the Cubs go 4-2 against AZ and WASH instead of the opposite and everyone's probably a little more optimistic.  They're certainly pretty uneven right now and not exactly exuding confidence, but there're still 6 weeks for them to get it straight and--for the one millionth time it seems it should be said--this year and this division has luckily afforded them all season to get their shit straight.  

TL;DR: Edwards, Strop and Wade will be as good as any other playoff team's bullpen, even LA's (I also think Wilson will have turned it around by September.  He fucking better).

It's been a while since I've seen anybody look as visibly lost as Wilson does out there at the moment.  Joe needs to get him into a few laughers or heavy losses, stat - send him out there when it doesn't matter how he pitches and maybe he'll remember how to throw a fucking strike.  Otherwise, it's hard to see how he's going to turn it around.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Maybe I should be more worried about this bullpen than I have been most of the season. Especially with an eye toward postseason high leverage situations.  

They only really have one guy they can count on, Wade Davis, and even he has had his bouts with shakiness.

Duensing and Edwards are effective to a certain extent but not always reliably so -- Carl has had some really bad meltdowns and can't pitch every day (despite Joe's belief to the contrary) and while Duensing has had a solid season I don't know if I trust that to continue.

The next tier down is Strop and Montgomery: great in certain spots, but inconsistent and prone to giving up more than their fair share of runs.

After that, it's who-the-hell-knows with Grimm, Rondon, and Wilson.

I don't think there's much they can do at this point. Did Britton clear waivers?

I'll be honest--I'm not as worried about the bullpen as their regular season would normally lead someone to be.  At least I don't know whether the Cubs bullpen is really any better or worse than any of the teams they'll be squaring off against in the playoffs.  The bullpen was average-to-good in the first half (Davis and Edwards were pretty good, on balance, and in any event they were not to blame for their sluggish 1st half nearly as much as the rotation).  It hurt when CEJ blew two games in a week against playoff-caliber teams at a time when the Cubs has sort of turned things around and which prevented them from having an even more monstrous start to the second half.  Shit, if CEJ is Good CEJ in that week the Cubs go 4-2 against AZ and WASH instead of the opposite and everyone's probably a little more optimistic.  They're certainly pretty uneven right now and not exactly exuding confidence, but there're still 6 weeks for them to get it straight and--for the one millionth time it seems it should be said--this year and this division has luckily afforded them all season to get their shit straight.  

TL;DR: Edwards, Strop and Wade will be as good as any other playoff team's bullpen, even LA's (I also think Wilson will have turned it around by September.  He fucking better).

It's been a while since I've seen anybody look as visibly lost as Wilson does out there at the moment.  Joe needs to get him into a few laughers or heavy losses, stat - send him out there when it doesn't matter how he pitches and maybe he'll remember how to throw a fucking strike.  Otherwise, it's hard to see how he's going to turn it around.

Man it's like David Weather in 2001 all over again!

[Oleg]

Maybe I should be more worried about this bullpen than I have been most of the season. Especially with an eye toward postseason high leverage situations. 

They only really have one guy they can count on, Wade Davis, and even he has had his bouts with shakiness.

Duensing and Edwards are effective to a certain extent but not always reliably so -- Carl has had some really bad meltdowns and can't pitch every day (despite Joe's belief to the contrary) and while Duensing has had a solid season I don't know if I trust that to continue.

The next tier down is Strop and Montgomery: great in certain spots, but inconsistent and prone to giving up more than their fair share of runs.

After that, it's who-the-hell-knows with Grimm, Rondon, and Wilson.

I don't think there's much they can do at this point. Did Britton clear waivers?

So...just like every bullpen in the history of baseball?

[SKO]

Maybe I should be more worried about this bullpen than I have been most of the season. Especially with an eye toward postseason high leverage situations.  

They only really have one guy they can count on, Wade Davis, and even he has had his bouts with shakiness.

Duensing and Edwards are effective to a certain extent but not always reliably so -- Carl has had some really bad meltdowns and can't pitch every day (despite Joe's belief to the contrary) and while Duensing has had a solid season I don't know if I trust that to continue.

The next tier down is Strop and Montgomery: great in certain spots, but inconsistent and prone to giving up more than their fair share of runs.

After that, it's who-the-hell-knows with Grimm, Rondon, and Wilson.

I don't think there's much they can do at this point. Did Britton clear waivers?

I'll be honest--I'm not as worried about the bullpen as their regular season would normally lead someone to be.  At least I don't know whether the Cubs bullpen is really any better or worse than any of the teams they'll be squaring off against in the playoffs.  The bullpen was average-to-good in the first half (Davis and Edwards were pretty good, on balance, and in any event they were not to blame for their sluggish 1st half nearly as much as the rotation).  It hurt when CEJ blew two games in a week against playoff-caliber teams at a time when the Cubs has sort of turned things around and which prevented them from having an even more monstrous start to the second half.  Shit, if CEJ is Good CEJ in that week the Cubs go 4-2 against AZ and WASH instead of the opposite and everyone's probably a little more optimistic.  They're certainly pretty uneven right now and not exactly exuding confidence, but there're still 6 weeks for them to get it straight and--for the one millionth time it seems it should be said--this year and this division has luckily afforded them all season to get their shit straight.  

TL;DR: Edwards, Strop and Wade will be as good as any other playoff team's bullpen, even LA's (I also think Wilson will have turned it around by September.  He fucking better).

It's been a while since I've seen anybody look as visibly lost as Wilson does out there at the moment.  Joe needs to get him into a few laughers or heavy losses, stat - send him out there when it doesn't matter how he pitches and maybe he'll remember how to throw a fucking strike.  Otherwise, it's hard to see how he's going to turn it around.

Man it's like David Weather in 2001 all over again!

You know I have a lot of Cubs memories from before I was 10 that stick out, but I never really followed the team closely bc I was too young. Just generic "go Cubs because dad and Grandpa like them" stuff. Then the 98 Cubs kinda hooked me for real, but right around age 13 in 2001 I really started to consider teenage rebellion. Mark Grace was my favorite and he'd jumped ship to Arizona, and they were a young, hip expansion franchise with stars. I might have jumped to Arizona had the 2001 Cubs not also gotten off to an unexpectedly hot start that kept me on the line just long enough to be pretty upset when they blew it down the stretch. Their downfall pretty much started with the Weathers and Tucker acquisitions, so to this day I bear a very irrational hatred of them both. Shit, Tucker was actually pretty good as a Cub in 2001 just going off the numbers. It doesn't matter. I despise him.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Maybe I should be more worried about this bullpen than I have been most of the season. Especially with an eye toward postseason high leverage situations.  

They only really have one guy they can count on, Wade Davis, and even he has had his bouts with shakiness.

Duensing and Edwards are effective to a certain extent but not always reliably so -- Carl has had some really bad meltdowns and can't pitch every day (despite Joe's belief to the contrary) and while Duensing has had a solid season I don't know if I trust that to continue.

The next tier down is Strop and Montgomery: great in certain spots, but inconsistent and prone to giving up more than their fair share of runs.

After that, it's who-the-hell-knows with Grimm, Rondon, and Wilson.

I don't think there's much they can do at this point. Did Britton clear waivers?

I'll be honest--I'm not as worried about the bullpen as their regular season would normally lead someone to be.  At least I don't know whether the Cubs bullpen is really any better or worse than any of the teams they'll be squaring off against in the playoffs.  The bullpen was average-to-good in the first half (Davis and Edwards were pretty good, on balance, and in any event they were not to blame for their sluggish 1st half nearly as much as the rotation).  It hurt when CEJ blew two games in a week against playoff-caliber teams at a time when the Cubs has sort of turned things around and which prevented them from having an even more monstrous start to the second half.  Shit, if CEJ is Good CEJ in that week the Cubs go 4-2 against AZ and WASH instead of the opposite and everyone's probably a little more optimistic.  They're certainly pretty uneven right now and not exactly exuding confidence, but there're still 6 weeks for them to get it straight and--for the one millionth time it seems it should be said--this year and this division has luckily afforded them all season to get their shit straight.  

TL;DR: Edwards, Strop and Wade will be as good as any other playoff team's bullpen, even LA's (I also think Wilson will have turned it around by September.  He fucking better).

It's been a while since I've seen anybody look as visibly lost as Wilson does out there at the moment.  Joe needs to get him into a few laughers or heavy losses, stat - send him out there when it doesn't matter how he pitches and maybe he'll remember how to throw a fucking strike.  Otherwise, it's hard to see how he's going to turn it around.

Man it's like David Weather in 2001 all over again!

You know I have a lot of Cubs memories from before I was 10 that stick out, but I never really followed the team closely bc I was too young. Just generic "go Cubs because dad and Grandpa like them" stuff. Then the 98 Cubs kinda hooked me for real, but right around age 13 in 2001 I really started to consider teenage rebellion. Mark Grace was my favorite and he'd jumped ship to Arizona, and they were a young, hip expansion franchise with stars. I might have jumped to Arizona had the 2001 Cubs not also gotten off to an unexpectedly hot start that kept me on the line just long enough to be pretty upset when they blew it down the stretch. Their downfall pretty much started with the Weathers and Tucker acquisitions, so to this day I bear a very irrational hatred of them both. Shit, Tucker was actually pretty good as a Cub in 2001 just going off the numbers. It doesn't matter. I despise him.

Me too.

Also, about a few month after Weathers showed up and was bad my brother told me that DAY VOTTO--who was color guy for the Cubs' broadcasts that year, alternating with Joe Carter on TV that year--told my brother that Weathers basically complained about being hurt from the moment he arrived.

Nice choice, Andy.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

I should add that I was a fan beginning in 1979 and 2001 was the first time in my fandom that the Cubs were legitimately in contention and managed to fade--the reputation people had of the Cubs thanks to the Durocher-Era Cubs wasn't actually true in my life until that season.  Until then, every time (yes ALL THREE TIMES in '84, '89 '98) that they were in contention at Labor Day they closed the deal, and I spent a great deal of time arguing with Cub-hating strangers on the Internet during that season who said the Cubs "were going to choke like they always do" pointing out that the only 3 times in 3 decades that they had a chance to choke anything away that they actually closed the deal...until they actually did play themselves out of contention that September (Fuck YOU, Tom Gordon and Kyle Farnsworth).

I understand of course that this says more about the fact that the Cubs rarely ever did compete but that's a different point altogether.

Good times.  

[CBStew]

I should add that I was a fan beginning in 1979 and 2001 was the first time in my fandom that the Cubs were legitimately in contention and managed to fade--the reputation people had of the Cubs thanks to the Durocher-Era Cubs wasn't actually true in my life until that season.  Until then, every time (yes ALL THREE TIMES in '84, '89 '98) that they were in contention at Labor Day they closed the deal, and I spent a great deal of time arguing with Cub-hating strangers on the Internet during that season who said the Cubs "were going to choke like they always do" pointing out that the only 3 times in 3 decades that they had a chance to choke anything away that they actually closed the deal...until they actually did play themselves out of contention that September (Fuck YOU, Tom Gordon and Kyle Farnsworth).

I understand of course that this says more about the fact that the Cubs rarely ever did compete but that's a different point altogether.

Good times.  

Age has its privileges.  My fandom goes back to 1942, when I first became aware of the Cubs.  (Although I have a photograph of my older brother at the age of 5 or so in the 1930s wearing a complete Cub uniform.  I always got hand me downs, but somehow I never got that uniform.) The forties were not terrible for the Cubs; a pennant and some decent finishes.  But then there was a long drought and a few heartbreaks from the 50s on.  I no longer lived in Chicago, and the Cubs were rarely on national TV.  I did go to Giant games whenever the Cubs came to town, confusing the hell out of my bride, who couldn't understand my unflinching loyalty or my deep depression in 1983.  The 2016 championship was a great relief.  One of my thoughts last October was that I could finally let go...if I wanted to.