Cubs Bring Back Key Piece To Their Bullpen

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The Cubs bullpen just got deeper.

Hard throwing right-hander Pedro Strop and the club avoided arbitration today when the team inked Strop to a one-year, $5.5 million dollar deal. Patrick Mooney of CSN was the first to report.

#Cubs avoid arbitration with Pedro Strop and settle on one-year, $5.5 million deal.

— Patrick Mooney (@CSNMooney) February 12, 2017

Adding Strop into the bullpen mix in 2017 is undoubtedly a huge addition. The Cubs have targeted both starting pitching and relief pitching this off season and arguably have a better bullpen then they did in 2016.

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A bullpen that Strop played a big role in.

In 2016, Strop pitched 47.1 innings and gave up 16 runs as primarily the 7th or 8th inning guy. He saw his time decrease in the post season pitching only 5 innings in 8 games but that is not uncommon to see in the post season when all hands are on deck in the bullpen.

Where exactly Strop will fit into the pen in 2017 is yet to be seen. Carl Edwards Jr. is quickly rising as a potential superstar and seems to have Joe Maddon’s trust which was shown when he stepped into a huge Game 7 spot in the World Series, instead of Strop. Hector Rondon’s health will be questioned going into the season so it’s unsure where he fits in and you have to figure Justin Grimm and newly acquired Koji Uehara will be in the mix to fill that “set up” role in 2017.

However, having too much depth in the bullpen is a problem that I’m sure Joe Maddon and pitching coach Chris Bosio do not mind having.

Even though he sometimes resembles Carlos Marmol to a certain degree, I’ve always been a fan of Strop. He brings high energy to the mound and has a devastating slider that when controlled, is damn near untouchable.

Plus he gave me one of my favorite moments from 2015.