Dramatic Cubs bullpen turnover demonstrated in shocking roster truth

Two. Just two of the eight relievers who were on the Chicago Cubs' Opening Day roster last year are still with the organization. And by no means are they locks for the this year's Opening Day mix, either, demonstrating just how dramatic of a turnover there's been in the bullpen over the last year.

The two holdovers, big left-hander Luke Little and veteran Julian Merryweather face a crowded bullpen picture in camp this spring, with Little likely ticketed for Iowa and Merryweather looking to bounce back from an injury-curtailed showing in 2024.

Little is a bit behind where he'd like to be after dealing with some 'typical' offseason issues and is yet to appear in a Cactus League game. The offseason addition of veteran southpaw Caleb Thielbar pushed him down on the depth chart, but with two minor-league options remaining, there's no doubt he's going to pitch meaningful innings for this team at some point this season.

Merryweather is battling for a spot alongside a number of fellow right-handers, including newcomer Ryan Brasier, non-roster invitees Brad Keller and Chris Flexen and familiar faces from last year in Tyson Miller, Nate Pearson, Ben Brown, Porter Hodge and Keegan Thompson. The battle for spots in the bullpen is so crowded that Eli Morgan, who posted a 1.93 ERA last year with the Guardians, may also wind up opening the year at Triple-A. Miller has been ineffective in three spring outings - to the extent he may lose his roster spot if he doesn't turn things around.

The only sure thing is veteran Ryan Pressly teaming up with Hodge to handle the ninth inning in some capacity. But other than that, this bullpen is very much a work in progress and the depth alone puts the Cubs on much stronger footing heading into the regular season than they found themselves in 12 months ago.

As we all remember (although we'd rather forget), Adbert Alzolay's early-season ineffectiveness and the subsequent season-ending injury threw the pen into chaos right out of the gates last spring and Hector Neris' control issues did little to add a stabilizing veteran presence to the situation. The hope here is the sheer volume of new faces nets out to a solid mix of arms coming out of camp and gives manager Craig Counsell a reliable bullpen to wield in an extremely challenging stretch of schedule to open the season.