Cubs fans want entire bullpen sent down to minors after another meltdown

Monday's game was supposed to be an exciting one for the Chicago Cubs. It marked Justin Steele's return to action after being sidelined since Opening Day with a hamstring strain. Steele was terrific, throwing 4.2 scoreless innings in his start despite throwing just 68 pitches.

While that was great to see, the Cubs bullpen made sure to ruin all the fun as quickly as possible.

It went so badly to the point where Cubs fans seem to want every single reliever on this roster sent down to the minors. I wish I was kidding.

Cubs fans can't believe yet another bullpen meltdown took place

Richard Lovelady was the first reliever Craig Counsell called on in relief of Steele, and he was able to get the final out of the fifth. Counsell left him in for the sixth, and that's when bad things started to happen.

Lovelady allowed hits to Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth, and Jurickson Profar in succession to plate the first two runs of the game. He also allowed Tatis and Cronenworth to pull off a double steal. That was it for his night.

In came Daniel Palencia, a hard thrower who has had some good moments for the Cubs this season, but had a 4.50 ERA in his first six appearances. That went up tonight.

The right-hander allowed two singles, a walk, and a double in succession and before you knew it, the Padres had doubled their lead. San Diego scored six times in the top of the sixth inning before Chicago even recorded an out.

Look, perhaps the Cubs can mount an incredible comeback, but the bullpen had been an issue before tonight's game and remains an issue. Hector Neris has pitched pretty well as the team's closer after he took over for the struggling Adbert Alzolay, but Chicago ranked 22nd in the majors with a 4.57 bullpen ERA. That went up tonight. That's a problem. Hey, at least Christopher Morel seems to be hitting home runs daily now.