The Chicago Cubs went out of their way to add bullpen depth this offseason after a disastrous full-on collapse of the bullpen in the first half of the 2024 campaign.
The team went out and acquired, by either trade or free agency, closer Ryan Pressly, Caleb Thielbar, Eli Morgan, Colin Rea, and Ryan Brasier to help reinforce a relief corps that managed to bounce back pretty well in the second half of the season after bringing some new names aboard.
But despite the new additions and the effective holdovers from last season, the x-factor in a bullpen hoping to help the team reach postseason success could be an asset from back in 2023.
Julian Merryweather As The Secret Bullpen Weapon
Julian Merryweather was a revelation for the Cubs in 2023, after being selected off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays prior to the season.
The hard-throwing right-hander, despite working through a knee injury that required constant attention, turned into a bullpen workhorse, appearing in 69 games and posting a 3.38 ERA as the Cubs made an ultimately failed bid at a playoff spot.
In 2024, however, his mojo was gone, along with more than 2 mph on his fastball and significant juice from his slider. He also suffered through a rib stress fracture that took almost four months off his season.
He would limp into the offseason after posting a 6.60 ERA in just 15 games.
Rebuilt and Refocused
In September, Merryweather underwent a right patellar tendon debridement to clean up the damage and came into spring training feeling healthy and refreshed.
His Cactus League performances have shown that new physical state of being, with additional velocity and life in his pitches. In Friday/Saturday’s 3-0 exhibition loss in Japan against the Hanshin Tigers, he started the game with a clean inning, notching one strikeout. He looked like the shutdown bullpen presence from 2023. His four-seam fastball maxed out at 98.2 mph and averaged 97.4 mph, almost 1.5 mph above his 2024 average.
Chicago Cubs Would Benefit Greatly From Revitalized Merryweather
“For Julian, he has his legs underneath him and with that comes velocity,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell commented after the game in Tokyo. “So all of his outings in spring, we are getting to the bigger velocities. And Julian is a pitcher like most where, maybe more than most, his velocity is critical for him and so it’s made a difference.
“The volatility of relievers is very well documented and the season he had in ’23 is one that we need to try to get back, and that would be a really important development for us. And so far this spring, I think we’re closer to that version than the 2024 version.”
Merryweather, meanwhile, couldn’t be happier that he can pitch at full capacity without concerning himself with injury or pain.
“It’s nice to not have to think about injuries and pain when you’re pitching,” Merryweather told media, postgame. “Been able to really get back to what I’ve been working on my whole career, which is working on my mechanics, repeatable delivery, so when that’s my focus, I feel like that’s when I’m at my best. And, yeah, we’re definitely setting a good foundation.”
If healthy and on-point, Merryweather could be a major asset for the Cubs’ bullpen– a bullpen that already looks to be vastly improved over last season. That can only help the team’s chances of making their first significant playoff run since 2017.
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