MESA, Ariz. — The volatility in bullpens inherently leads to roster-construction changes over the course of the season.
The Chicago Cubs bullpen last year looked very different from opening day to the end of the season. Over the course of the 162 games, only three relievers remained in the bullpen by October, and one of them, Colin Rea, pitched in a true relief role three times in his 32 appearances. The Cubs know they could have some roster churn among their relievers this year, too, whether from injury or poor performance.
For them to best withstand that, development of relief options from within the organization will be important in the coming months.
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“It’s crazy valuable,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said Friday. “In the industry, you see how valuable it is when you can create internal bullpen options and back-end bullpen options. For the organization, it’s worth so much.”
Left-hander Luke Little and right-handers Porter Hodge, Ethan Roberts and Jack Neely likely will see big-league innings out of the pen this year. The Cubs worked with Roberts this offseason to increase his velocity, and the uptick has been showing in his spring outings, posting a 94.1-mph average on his cutter (up 2.7 mph) Tuesday against Team Italy while his sinker averaged 94.7 mph (up 1.7 mph).
Hottovy acknowledged that the Cubs didn’t utilize Roberts very well in 2025. The 28-year-old appeared in 10 games, the majority in the first month of the season. Hottovy credited Roberts for doing “everything we asked him to do,” at times involving big spots in which the Cubs were limited in their options because of usage.
“Ethan at 93, 94, up to 95 we’ve seen in games with that pitch movement is a completely different pitcher than the guy who needs to cover three innings and go and throw 91, so we knew that situation was part of where we were in the season, and he knew he was going to help us out and he played a big part in that,” Hottovy said. “But one big goal for Ethan was to get back to that explosiveness this offseason, and he did. He’s done a fantastic job.”
Little’s and Hodge’s struggles last year and this spring are very similar. Little has shown elite stuff in camp, but when his delivery gets out of whack, the lefty’s command and velocity take a hit. Little and the Cubs have worked on recapturing his athleticism. He hit off a tee a lot over the offseason to create a fun way to get out of his head and just pitch while working on his rotational movement.
Hottovy pointed to Little’s outing Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks as a great example of how the Cubs want the 25-year-old to focus on just pitching and relying on his stuff. After walking Craig Counsell’s son Brady on five pitches to open the inning, Little focused a lot of his energy to hold the runner by alternating the height of his leg kick, pickoff attempts and slide-stepping in his delivery. When Little returned to the dugout at the end of a scoreless inning, Hottovy told him that was the kind of stuff he had to do during his own career because he wasn’t a very good pitcher.
“You have elite stuff to beat anybody, so just bully people in the strike zone,” Hottovy said. “It’s just reminding guys of that. And they’re working on it, he’s working on his pickoff move. He’s working on things so he wants to go out there and showcase it. It’s just let the game bring that to you, not trying to go force it in the moment.”
Hodge came into last season looking to replicate his 2024 rookie-year success when he recorded a 1.88 ERA and nine saves in 39 games. Instead, he struggled with a 6.27 ERA in 36 games and dealt with two injuries. Hodge showed flashes of great stuff early in camp, but in-game spring results have been shaky, especially with inconsistent command that has resulted in seven walks through two-plus innings.
Chasing past results can be a slippery slope that can send players down the wrong path. The Cubs want Hodge worrying less about the minutiae of his delivery during games and just grip and rip it.
“It’s just taking the work that he puts in and then separating that from like going and competing,” Hottovy said. “He’s very thoughtful about the work he puts in, very thoughtful about delivery and grip and cues and all those things. But when you’re in the game, just go compete, go have fun.
“This offseason, I thought he did a great job of just getting back to a clean, athletic delivery, just ripping his fastball over the plate and then let the slider work off that. We saw it in the live BPs, he was like a 75-80% strike rate. And then the game happens, and you get back to those bad habits.”
Ben Brown stands with other Cubs pitchers before warming up at Sloan Park during the first full-squad workout at spring training on Feb. 16, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Of the bullpen-depth options, Roberts seemingly has the best path to making the team out of camp. But the Cubs also hold a bullpen wild card in right-hander Ben Brown.
Hottovy didn’t rule out the possibility Brown could begin the year in the bullpen to give the Cubs another multi-inning option early in the season when starters aren’t fully stretched out. The Cubs plan to be deliberate with Cade Horton’s and Edward Cabrera’s workload initially and don’t want either pitcher to jump right to 95-pitch outings. That adds value to potentially having Rea and Brown in the bullpen to open the season.
“I just don’t want to put him in a spot where he could very well be one of the best 14 pitchers we have in camp at the end,” Hottovy said of Brown. “And I don’t want to just be like, well, we need to send him to Triple A to continue working on becoming a starter because I think he’s got the stuff to be an elite back-end guy too. At the same time, we can still develop guys as starters, giving them length in the big leagues at times. And just because we make a decision on a guy like Ben, a lot of it is short-term decision-making, not long-term.
“Our goal is to put the best group together we can in April and see where things are from that point.”