Closer Adbert Alzolay sat by himself in the dugout after the Cubs’ 3-2 loss to the Marlins in Game 1 of a doubleheader Saturday.
Alzolay had blown his fourth save of the season after allowing a go-ahead, two-run home run to Bryan De La Cruz in the ninth inning. The Cubs officially have a closer problem.
Alzolay has had a rocky start to the season. In 10 innings, the right-hander has allowed 10 hits, five earned runs and four homers. De La Cruz’s homer came on a 95 mph sinker.
‘‘It’s just not keeping the ball in the park,’’ manager Craig Counsell said. ‘‘Obviously, the home run, for the closer in tight situations, is going to hurt you, and it hurts today.’’
In each of his blown saves, Alzolay entered nursing a one-run lead. But the job of a closer is to deliver in high-pressure situations, and he has struggled to do so. After a strong 2023 season, in which he converted 22 of 25 save chances, Alzolay is 3-for-7 this season.
‘‘We need Adbert to get outs,’’ Counsell said. ‘‘Regardless of where it is, we need Adbert to be an effective member of the bullpen, and I strongly believe he will be. It stings when it comes at the end of the game there, but we need outs, and Adbert is going to get us big outs this year.’’
After finishing the ninth, Alzolay solemnly walked off the mound. Counsell said the team will continue counting on Alzolay, but he needs to start delivering.
If the Cubs make a change, Counsell can move high-leverage reliever Mark Leiter Jr. into the closer’s role, but his value comes in being deployed when there are runners on base in the middle innings. Leiter has allowed zero runs in 10 innings.
Veteran setup man Hector Neris has been uneven this season, but he has experience as a closer and earned the save in the Cubs’ 5-3 victory in Game 2.
Regardless of when Alzolay enters the game, the Cubs need him to be dialed in. His stuff is too good not to be used.
‘‘That’s been the challenge,’’ president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Friday. ‘‘Obviously, he [Alzolay] has had some really good outings, but three different times he’s given up homers. Getting him to, I don’t want to say ‘execute,’ but I think some of those pitches are in the zone, and they should be below the zone.’’
Counsell is looking for pitchers who can get outs, and that’s not Alzolay right now. It’s only April, but the pressure on Alzolay only will intensify if he doesn’t improve. The Cubs can’t afford to give away winnable games such as the one Saturday.
‘‘There’s been a lot of positives, but no question there’s been some games, some middle innings, some things in the ninth inning that we need to clean up,’’ Hoyer said.
‘‘I don’t necessarily expect those things to be perfectly clean in April, but we do have to get to a point of stability of performance in order to be able to have some consistency and get on a roll.’’
