When you’re pitching at the back end of a bullpen for a team in a playoff chase, adrenaline becomes your friend.
Cubs relievers don’t lack for it.
An example: Adbert Alzolay’s typically big fist pump after weathering a rocky two-run ninth Sunday to close out a 4-3 victory against the Royals.
It was his major-league-best 14th save since July 5.
“Adbert has hurt my hand high-fiving after games,” right-hander Michael Fulmer said. “Trust me, I go left hand with him now. We know that he’s one of those guys that thrives in situations like that.”
For a former starter such as Alzolay, the innings load of closing won’t approach his pro career high. Nor will working as the Cubs’ best setup option against lefties approach the innings Mark Leiter Jr. covered in the past as a multi-inning reliever. But even accounting for setup man Julian Merryweather, Fulmer stands alone among Cubs high-leverage options. He has experienced a full major-league season working the later innings and is a resource for his teammates because of it.
“It’s funny in this game: I’m the oldest guy in this bullpen, but Fulmer, he’s got the most experience,” Leiter, 32, said. “We’re together all the time. You’re constantly talking through soreness and different things to get the soreness out. Different things to recover faster, different ways to warm up quicker, more efficient, different ways to expedite the recovery.”
It’s not the innings as much as the lack of recovery time that takes getting used to.
Alzolay’s ninth inning against Kansas City was the 12th time this season that he has pitched on zero days of rest. The promising 28-year-old had never done it before in the majors. The vast majority of such outings in the careers of Merryweather and Leiter — who also both pitched Saturday and Sunday — also have taken place this season. They’ve emerged as trusted setup men on a contender for the first time.
When Alzolay’s slider is sharp and his fastball command is on, he resembles an All-Star closer. But navigating days like this one when his slider is backing up might be just as meaningful. It’s a growth process the Cubs will see happen — across their bullpen — down the stretch while fighting for the -National League Central crown.
“That’s the guy we have at the back end who has had a lot of success for us,” manager David Ross said. “He needed some balls hit at some guys, and that happened late. But Adbert has done a phenomenal job for us. Whether he doesn’t close it out right there or he does, that doesn’t diminish how we’re going to do things moving forward.”
Facing the heart of an opposing lineup with the game on the line several times in a series requires relievers to almost think about sequencing and changing up looks like a starter. Fulmer notes that 12-year veteran Yan Gomes is invaluable for reading swings, gauging whether an adjustment is necessary and allowing pitchers to focus on executing.
Having never gotten closer to the playoffs than during his rookie season in Detroit when the Tigers finished three games out, Fulmer stresses to his pen mates that the thrill of the chase will push the physical challenges to the background.
“If you haven’t done it, you’ll get used to it,” Fulmer said. “There’s no sitting back and trying to ease into these situations in the middle of a playoff race. It’s August, we have another month left, but these games matter.”
“At some point they’ve got to do it,” Ross said. “They didn’t start the season saying they’re going to take the last month off because they’ve never done it. They go out and prepare in the offseason for a full workload, same with Justin Steele. We’re on a winning team that’s going out and proving that we’re good. They’re going to go out and do their job.”
