The Chicago Cubs bullpen continues to be a big problem and Craig Kimbrel can be the savior and get Joe Maddon’s team back on track.
After the Cubs bullpen blew another late lead on Wednesday, there is no excuse for the team not to sign All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel.
The Cubs are 1-4 and three of the losses are on the bullpen who brings their gas can to the mound and finds new ways to blow games. Whether it’s a wild pitch allowing the game-winning run or walking the bases loaded and giving up a home run, the Cubs bullpen has been a nightmare early on.
Craig Kimbrel can fix all of this if Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer just called him and signed him already.
The seven-time All-Star remains unsigned despite saving 42 games for the World Series champion Boston Red Sox last year. He’s got 333 career saves, a career .920 WHIP and strikes out 14.7 batters per nine innings.
How is there not a spot for a guy with those credentials in the Cubs bullpen but there’s a spot for Brad Bach, Tyler Chatwood and Steve Cishek?
Through four games, the Cubs bullpen, excluding starter Carlos Quintana who pitched 4 innings of relief after Yu Darvish couldn’t get out of the third, relievers have walked 14 batters in 14.1 innings.
That’s enough to make Cubs fans overdose on antacid.
So bring in Kimbrel and allow him to provide a proven and quality arm to shut lineups down in the ninth inning. Don’t wait any longer. The Cubs cried poor as a reason they didn’t pursue Bryce Harper in the offseason, but Kimbrel will likely accept a one-year deal at this rate to get on the mound.
While the front office touts the eventual return of injured closer Brandon Morrow, that’s far from a sure thing that will fix what ails the Cubs pen. Morrow has been injury-prone his whole career, so get some insurance and upgrade the position that’s causing panic among Cubdom.
Kimbrel would need a few weeks to get his arm in shape after missing spring training, but if he could return in the first week of May, that’s a huge shot in the arm for a team devoid of flame-throwers in the pen.
This team needs some good news, and an upgrade at the back of the ‘pen, and Kimbrel signing with the Cubs checks off both boxes.
Don’t let Cishek, Chatwood, Edwards or Mike Montgomery turn another win into a back-breaking loss and sign Kimbrel already.