(670 The Score) With the start of the shortened season looming in just more than two weeks, the Cubs are ramping up their relievers to carry a bigger load than in a traditional campaign.
The Cubs want more of their relievers than usual to be capable of a three-inning workload. The team has that threshold in mind knowing that starting pitchers might not go as deep into games as usual with so little time to ramp up in spring training 2.0.
Rosters will be expanded to 30 players to start the season, which gives teams the ability to carry more bullpen arms than usual.
"Ideally, we will have three or four relievers that can give us three innings," pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said. "There may be games where (Yu) Darvish or (Kyle) Hendricks go six innings, and there may be times you see three relievers going three innings each. At this point, we have to get guys as stretched out as we can. A lot of guys coming in here have already thrown two- and three-inning simulated games."
The Cubs have already taken steps toward their goal, conducting intrasquad games at Wrigley Field on Saturday and Sunday.
"It's a testament to the fact we can play an intrasquad game or have live BP in day two of our camp," Hottovy said. "That shows the work they have put in during the process. We were attempting to thread the needle on the workload and hit the ground running. Each guy on our pitching staff had completely different scenarios based on geography, where they were and the facilities they had access to. Again, they have come in ready and its really a testament to the hard work put in."
In the unique season, teams could utilize new approaches with their pitching staffs. Some teams could use six- or seven-man rotations, while others may utilize openers to handle the first inning or two of a game.
"We are trying to stay as prepared as we can and be ready for anything," Hottovy said. "We are trying to front-load all of our starters. Right now in my mind, we have seven Opening Day starters. To get everybody healthy through spring training, you can't space them out too much. We just can't take that chance. We will have our pitchers facing each other early. Better to get through this healthy than speed things up on the back end."
With left-hander Jose Quintana sidelined for at least several weeks after thumb surgery, right-hander Tyler Chatwood appears set to fill the No. 4 spot in the Cubs' rotation to open the season. He had worked up to four innings in his individual workouts before reporting back to Wrigley Field for summer camp.
After signing a three-year deal with the Cubs, Chatwood had a poor 2018 season before responding with a solid 2019, when he had a 3.76 ERA while working mostly out of the bullpen (33 relief appearances and five starts).
"He has been doing the right things and saying the right things during the last two seasons," Hottovy said. "Things began to click for him halfway through the year last season. Now he has more opportunities to take advantage of. In spring training I thought he was is in an absolutely great place."
Right-hander Alec Mills pitched in the intrasquad game Sunday and could fill the No. 5 spot in the rotation.
"He is a guy who is a pitch-maker," Hottovy said. "He is similar to Kyle Hendricks. We compare them somewhat. He is a guy who can pitch to a report and is not be afraid to give up a hit or a run. He can slow the game down mentally and put himself in a good situation to be successful. Both of those guys, we expect big things out of this year. Keeping them healthy will be really crucial for us."
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
