Rookie Ethan Roberts can be a great part of the Cubs bullpen if he remains with the team
The Cubs are a fortunate team to have a lot of guys they can send to the minors. A blessing in this regard, the negative outlook of this could be that they have a lot of question marks. One of them is rookie Ethan Roberts.
A reliever throughout his professional career, Roberts is someone who has gotten more closer experience under his belt as a minor leaguer than most do. Typically, minor league teams won’t have a designated closer. Roberts has finished games plenty on the farm with 29 finished games in 2019 to go along with 13 saves. Last season, it did decrease to 17 games finished and only 4 saves. Nevertheless, the Cubs continued to give him chances in the ninth inning.
Roberts probably won’t get any of those higher-leverage frames this year especially when he can be considered a guy to get sent down. He should rank behind Rucker on the list of potential demotions. The biggest factor, however, should be how each is performing on May 1.
But there is a twist. Because both Rucker and Roberts have minor league options, we could always see the Cubs stick with the fresher arm. Chicago should shuttle pitchers up and down the minor leagues regularly this year. Unless Roberts can entrench himself in the team’s bullpen, expect him to be one of the candidates.