The Bernstein Brief: Cubs Will Need Relief
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) It's easier when it doesn't really matter and important pitchers can just get in work on the back ends of blowout wins like the Cubs have had in consecutive National League Championship Series games, but it would still be fine if the high-leverage bullpen arms want to inspire more confidence for when they matter.
And they will, perhaps soon. There will be more games, and there will be big outs needed from those entrusted to get them.
It's a mere nit to pick over a tiny sample of performances in quirky playoff situations at the behest of a creative and aggressive manager, but it's still worth noting that the three most important relief pitchers on the Cubs have been ordinary overall in this postseason.
Hector Rondon, Pedro Strop and most significantly Aroldis Chapman will be called upon to shorten a game and will have to be better. Peripheral numbers suggest they have outperformed their respective playoff ERAs of 4.91, 4.91 and 4.26, respectively, which inspires more confidence than actually watching them be less than the kind of intimidating force that affects the in-game decisions of opponents.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon always says his first concern upon arriving at the ballpark is the bullpen -- who's available that day and who's in what form to be trusted with critical matchups. And I'm with him.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.