Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Has the Chicago Cubs‘ bullpen mess become so dysfunctional, the team so desperate for anyone in their system to do anything in the ninth inning, that they’ve had to dive into the pool of MLB exiles to depths that not even the Detroit Tigers would dare go?
The emphatic answer could only be provided by one name: Kevin Gregg.
Yes, strap in, Cubs fans, because this is going to be quite a ride. It might have seemed like something of a joke when the team signed the Goggled One to the minor league contract earlier in April, but as it turns out, the joke has been on everyone else, as Gregg has not only recorded scoreless innings in each of his five outings, but also three saves on the season.
I’m serious. Gregg is closing again, and not only that, he was called on in the ninth for two saves in a row over the weekend, as if to further cement his place as the Cubs’ No. 1 option right now.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the high point of the Kevin Gregg Experience: The Sequel.
This won’t end well, of course. Just as the Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles have learned over recent seasons, the right-hander is not someone who should be called on in high-leverage situations, unless hair-tearing frustration is your idea of good entertainment.
In fact, the Cubs have already been on this ride before, and it’s not like they liked it that much better in 2009. Gregg recorded 23 handshakes with the team then, but wound up losing his job because he couldn’t keep the ball in the park (1.70 HR/9).
The man who replaced him? Oh, just a young fireballer named Carlos Marmol. How’s that for irony?
That was just the first of Gregg’s pair of remarkably bad negative fWAR seasons with double-digit saves. If there was ever an argument against the idea of the ‘established closer’, he’s the man to make it.
There is a good reason why the 34-year-old did not have a job in the bigs until the Cubs came calling for a reunion tour in 2013, after all. Which is weird, really, because his generosity knows virtually no bounds: of all big league relievers with at least 15 saves since 2010, Gregg ranks second in BB/9 with 5.19.
The first? Yeah, you guessed it — Marmol.
See you at the bottom, folks.
