Twin bill a sign of bullpen's strength under strain

CHICAGO -- The Cubs went into Saturday knowing their bullpen was going to be asked to carry a heavy load. Not only were there two games worth of innings to cover, but starters Marcus Stroman and Drew Smyly are still building volume back up after recent stints on the injured list.

Between games of a twin-bill sweep by the Mets -- the first a 2-1 defeat in 11 innings and the nightcap a 4-3 loss in 10 frames -- Stroman summed things up nicely when asked about the collective work of the relief corps not only on Saturday, but all season long.

"Obviously, they need a break more than anybody," Stroman said.

Stroman and Smyly each worked 4 1/3 innings in their starts against New York, giving solid performances after returning last week from right shoulder and right oblique setbacks, respectively. That meant the bullpen (12 1/3 innings) put in more time than the rotation in the doubleheader.

That followed a trend this season for the Cubs, whose rotation issues (primarily by way of injuries) have led to the club pacing the National League in relief innings (379 2/3, entering Saturday). Chicago's rotation has also produced an NL-high 42 starts consisting of fewer than five innings.

"It's definitely been challenging," Cubs manager David Ross said. "When you're leading the league in bullpen innings, that says a lot about, one, where our starting rotation has been a little bit short, right? With all the injuries. And also, the confidence that we have. I think that's the strength of our team, and they've done a really nice job down there, and with a heavy workload at times.

"In my opinion, they've done more than we could've expected in a lot of ways."

Consider these pitching notes:

• The Cubs have used 13 starting pitchers this season (most in the NL and second to only the Tigers, who had 14 going into Saturday). It is the most starters used by Chicago since 2014 (13). The North Siders used 12 in '21, when the team set a single-season club record for players used (69).

• Due to stints on the IL, the offseason additions of Stroman, Smyly and Wade Miley have combined for only 26 of the Cubs' 91 starts (28.6 percent). Even when adding in Opening Day starter Kyle Hendricks (on the IL with a right shoulder strain), that quartet of veterans has accounted for 46.2 percent (42 starts) of the rotation's outings.

• When lefty Steven Brault (promoted from Triple-A Iowa on Saturday) made his Cubs debut in Game 2, it pushed the Cubs to 30 pitchers used overall this season. It is the sixth time in club history that the Cubs have used at least 30 arms (also in 2021, 2019, 2018, 2013 and 2012). Only the Nationals (32) had used more pitchers this season, entering Saturday.

• Cubs sidearmer Scott Effross headed into Saturday with 41 appearances -- two behind Major League-leader A.J. Minter (43) of the Braves. Effross had 45 outings between the Majors and Minors last year. The righty pitched in both games of the twin bill to move to the top of the MLB leaderboard.

• The Cubs have used 24 players in relief outings (including position players). Going into Saturday's action, only the Pirates (26), Rays (25) and Nationals (24) had utilized at least as many relievers this season.

“The bullpen's been great all season, man,” Smyly said. “We've had a lot of injuries in the rotation and starters not going too deep in the game. It's been a lot on them and I think they've all handled it really well and have just stepped up, one guy after the next getting the job done.

Combined, the Cubs’ relief corps was charged with three unearned runs (all coming in extra innings) with 15 strikeouts against six walks in the group’s dozen-plus frames.

Veteran David Robertson (two innings), Rowan Wick (1 2/3) and Brandon Hughes (1 2/3) each gave multi-inning efforts in Game 1. Effross and Mychal Givens appeared in both losses. Brault’s season debut was seamless (three groundouts and nothing else in the ninth of the second tilt). Righty Anderson Espinoza came up from Triple-A and turned in 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

“They did a great job in both games today," Smyly said. "It's just a shame we walked away with two losses, because I thought throughout both games we pitched really well.”

Stroman added that he hopes the relievers can “recharge” during the upcoming All-Star break. That will certainly be the hope, as the second half will continue to test the depth of Chicago’s pitching staff.

Hendricks remains a few weeks away from potentially resuming playing catch, Miley (left shoulder) is only built to long-toss in his rehab program and Alec Mills’ timeline for return from a back issue is unclear. There is also the possibility that the staff loses a piece or two at the upcoming Aug. 2 Trade Deadline.

“Getting those two guys back, and getting them back stretched out would be a positive,” Ross said of Stroman and Smyly. “Losing [Hendricks], it just means guys like [Adrian] Sampson continue to get the opportunity. We've still got to rely on [Justin] Steele and Keegan [Thompson] and those guys continuing to prove that they're everyday starters in the big leagues. They're doing a really nice job of that.

“Next guy up kind of mentality.”