A lot of things have gone well for the Cubs early in the short season. The starting pitching has been mostly good through six games. The offense has produced in a big way early, especially at the bottom of the lineup. It all adds up to a 4-2 record for the Northsiders.

The one downside is a very familiar problem for Chicago, a very leaky bullpen. We’re talking biblical flood level leaky relief corps so far. A whopping 21.1% of batters they’ve faced have drawn walks. Clearly, it will be vital to find some people to get outs soon.

After a rain-out Thursday, the Cubs return to the Empty Confines of Wrigley Field Friday for a three-game series with the rebuilding Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates have started at 2-4 and have similar bullpen issues to the Cubs.

Adam Frazier and Josh Bell are two dangerous hitters lurking in the lineup. Trevor Williams and Joe Musgrove have been decent starters in the past, but Chris Archer is out for the season. If the Cubs are going to make the playoffs they will need to beat up on this Pirates team, let’s see if they do.

Watch/Listen

Friday: 7:15 PM CT on Marquee SN/670AM

Saturday: 7:15 PM CT on Marquee SN/670AM

Sunday: 1:20 PM CT on Marquee SN/670AM

Lineups

Pirates

Cubs

Bullpen Usage

Lineups and Bullpen Usage via Baseball Press.

Trevor Williams: Trevor Williams has thrown 7,793 pitches that have been tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2016 and 2020, including pitches thrown in the MLB Regular Season and Spring Training. In 2020, he has relied primarily on his Fourseam Fastball (92mph) and Slider (83mph), also mixing in a Change (85mph) and Curve (78mph). He also rarely throws a Sinker (91mph).

His fourseam fastball has heavy sinking action, is basically never swung at and missed compared to other pitchers’ fourseamers, has less armside movement than typical, has essentially average velo and results in somewhat more flyballs compared to other pitchers’ fourseamers. His slider has some two-plane movement. His change results in more flyballs compared to other pitchers’ changeups. His curve is basically never swung at and missed compared to other pitchers’ curves, results in more flyballs compared to other pitchers’ curves and has little depth. His sinker is basically never swung at and missed compared to other pitchers’ sinkers, is an extreme flyball pitch compared to other pitchers’ sinkers, has slightly below average velo and has some natural sinking action.

Sean’s note: After a great 2018, Williams had a rough year last season. Homers were a big issue with 27 allowed in 145 innings. Lefties really teed off on him in 2019.

Mitch Keller: Mitch Keller has thrown 878 pitches that have been tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2017 and 2020, including pitches thrown in the MLB Regular Season and Fall/Winter Ball. In 2020, he has relied primarily on his Fourseam Fastball (92mph), also mixing in a Curve (76mph) and Slider (85mph). He also rarely throws a Change (87mph).

His fourseam fastball generates fewer whiffs/swing compared to other pitchers’ fourseamers, has some natural sinking action, has essentially average velo and has slightly less natural movement than typical. His slider is an extreme flyball pitch compared to other pitchers’ sliders. His curve has an exceptional bite, is basically never swung at and missed compared to other pitchers’ curves, results in more flyballs compared to other pitchers’ curves and has slightly below average velo. His change is basically never swung at and missed compared to other pitchers’ changeups, is much firmer than usual and results in more flyballs compared to other pitchers’ changeups.

Sean’s note: Keller made his major league debut late last year and took some lumps. The Cubs had mixed success against him in two starts; scoring 6 off him one start and just a lone run the other.

Sunday TBA;