Craig Counsell on the Cubs' bullpen for 2024 |
Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell is getting to know his players with the first week of Cubs camp underway.
Counsell has looked over his bullpen and won't stick players into defined roles right from the start, particularly in the bullpen. “I don’t know what our bullpen is going to look like, and I am going to change my mind during the course of the season, and I think I should,” Counsell said. “Bullpens are the thing we have to have a very open mind to it, and I think that’s how you have to continue to look at it, not get too stuck, not form too hard of biases on things, not get stuck on what happened last night. It’s an important part of having a successful bullpen. Counsell recognizes the value of the recent acquisition of Hector Neris, acknowledging the depth he adds to the bullpen. “Hector (Neris) provides another really good option, and so it provides us more places to go. It gives us more time with some of our young pitchers that, at some point, we’re going to need to make an impact on this bullpen. So, it’s the feeling of safety almost with adding a guy like that. As long as pitchers are doing their jobs, Counsell will prioritize effectiveness over any predetermined structure. “We just want to get to 27 outs, however that happens.”
