What Héctor Neris' addition means for the back end of the Cubs' bullpen

MESA, Ariz. — Right-hander Hector Neris was establishing himself as the Phillies’ closer when Mark Leiter Jr. debuted in 2017. Leiter considers himself lucky, both to have had Neris around then and to have him as a teammate again this year with the Cubs.

“He’s been through everything in this game, and he’s going to be an unbelievable teammate to learn from first and foremost,” Leiter told the Sun-Times. “But no doubt he’s going to be helping us out in every way possible and also gives us another piece in the pen that’s going to help us lock things down.”

On one hand, last season provided a nice jumping off point for a relatively young bullpen, especially for back-end relievers Leiter, Julian Merryweather and Adbert Alzolay. It was the trio’s first full season as the go-to, high-leverage options.

“Overall, I think we’re all proud of the work we put in,” Leiter said. “And I definitely think that we’re excited to show that we can be even better this year.”

On the other hand, the bullpen’s overall inexperience showed late last year in the face of a long and grueling season, and injuries exposed the Cubs’ lack of back-end depth. Neris’ signing this offseason — to a one-year, $9 million contract with a 2025 option — addresses both issues.

He not only has closing and playoff experience, but he has made 70-plus appearances in each of his last three seasons.

“That’s why we targeted him,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said this week. “All the references we got on him were that he does provide real leadership and stability in the bullpen. The fact that he’s done it year after year, pitching for seven months every year is really critical.

“I think those guys [in the bullpen] learned a lot last season. For a lot of those guys, it was their first time through it. It was a hard run. And certainly we’re all hopeful that adding Neris helps that group, but also that they got the experience from being pushed really hard and they can come back and understand you know what the workload feels like a little bit more.”

Neris doesn’t have a long explanation for his reputation as a positive clubhouse presence. He’s just being himself. And he enjoys mentoring young players, paying forward the help he received early in his career from veterans.

“I’m not the master,” he said. “I just try to [talk] about my experience, about what I think, about what I see.”

From afar last year, Neris saw potential in the Cubs’ bullpen.

“If I can help this talent and the bullpen and the game and the team, I’ll be available.”

It will be manager Craig Counsell’s job to figure out what Neris’ addition means for bullpen roles.

“Hector provides another really good option,” Counsell said Thursday. “And so it provides us more places to go. It gives us more time with some of our young pitchers that at some point we’re going to need to make an impact on this bullpen. And so it’s a feeling of safety, almost, with adding a guy like that.”

Neris is expected to be in the back-end mix. But Counsell isn’t naming a closer or setup man at this point.

“We just want to get the 27 outs,” Counsell said. “And then however that happens, ideally, it rolls into something that’s defined, no question about it. But it doesn’t have to.”

In other words, Alzolay might reclaim the closer role. To Counsell, the success Alzolay had last season matters. But the new manager isn’t going to box himself in with a premature decision. It’s possible he doesn’t name a closer at all this season.

“At this point, it would almost be malpractice on my part to get into defining things,” he said. “We have to be open to what we see. We have to be open for a player to surprise us.”