Well, doesn’t look good for Chicago Cubs fans, and the Cubs bullpen as Codi Heuer is expected to miss the entire 2022 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery today according to his Instagram.
Codi Heuer was a part of the Craig Kimbrel trade that sent Kimbrel to the White Sox, and Nick Madrigal and Heuer to the North Side. With the Cubs, Heuer pitched in 28.2 innings, with a 3.14 ERA, 17 strikeouts, and allowed 20 hits.
Now that Heuer a big piece to the Cubs bullpen will miss the entire season, the current Cubs bullpen looks like Manuel Rodriguez, Michael Rucker, Rowan Wick, Adbert Alzolay, Scott Effross, and Cory Abbott, that’s not going to cut it, so who should they look to sign to fill Heuer’s spot once the lookout ends, and teams can sign free agents?
Ryan Tepera
Ryan Tepera was also a part of the Cubs fire sale at the trade deadline in 2021, and he was traded to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for left-handed pitcher Bailey Horn. Before the trade, Tepera pitched in 43 innings, with a 2.91 ERA, 50 strikeouts with the Cubs, with the White Sox he pitched, in only 18 innings, ended up having a 2.50 ERA and 24 strikeouts.
Bring this man back to the North Side Carter Hawkins.
Andrew Chafin
You can probably guess what’s happening here, right? Bring back the guys who were traded away, yes. Bring Chafin back to the North Side, Hawkins.
Chafin was also a part of the Cubs fire sale in 2021, sending him to Oakland in exchange for outfielder Greg Deichmann, and right-handed pitcher Daniel Palencia.
He pitched in 39 innings for the Cubs, notching a 2.06 ERA, with 37 strikeouts, allowing 21 hits. With the Athletics, Chafin pitched in 29 innings, with a 1.53 ERA, and 27 strikeouts, allowing 24 hits.
The Cubs currently do not have a lefty in the pen, and they desperately need one when guys like Christian Yelich are in the same division.
Brad Hand
You can always use more than two lefties out of the bullpen, especially since the Cubs have zero.
Free-agent lefty, Brad Hand would be an amazing piece to the bullpen, Hand pitched for three teams in 2021, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, and the Washington Nationals.
With the Nationals, Hand pitched in 42.2 innings, with a 3.59 ERA, 42 strikeouts, and allowed 31 hits. In Toronto, he pitched in only 8.2 innings, with a 7.27 ERA, you look at that ERA, but it’s a very small sample size. It seems that his season got a little bit back on track with the Nationals, still a small sample size but pitched in 13.1 innings, held a 2.70 ERA.
Richard Rodriguez
Richard Rodriguez also comes to mind with the Cubs holes in the bullpen and even a bigger hole that Heuer is out the entire season, and he’s in his 2nd year of arbitration.
He pitched with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the world series champion Atlanta Braves last year. He had a 2.82 ERA, in 38.1 innings, with 33 strikeouts, a pretty good stint with the Pirates. A trade deadline acquisition for the Braves, sending Bryse Wilson and Ricky DeVito to Pittsburgh for Rodriguez. Only pitched in 26 innings, with a 3.12 ERA, and 9 strikeouts, that’s a small sample size.
The Cubs have some holes to fill on this roster, and now face an even bigger question in the bullpen with Codi Heuer out, there are some intriguing names in free agency to add to the bullpen.
