Chicago Cubs bullpen strikes back with noteworthy scoreless inning streak

The Chicago Cubs are making their way to the postseason, but getting there hasn’t been as simple as previously expected.

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The team is now one game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies in the pursuit of the top National League Wild Card spot. They’re also 2.5 games ahead of the San Diego Padres, who currently have the third Wild Card seed. With 13 games to go in the regular season, it’s safe to assume that the Cubs will land a spot somewhere in the playoffs—unless there’s some crazy collapse.

Very recently, it looked as though that crazy collapse was happening, courtesy of a bullpen that appeared to be in full-on collapse mode.

Panic was already setting in among the fans as nobody in the Cubs’ pen seemed to be able to close the doors. The struggles of co-closers Jacob Webb and Daniel Palencia were especially troubling as both seemed absolutely lost.

Cubs bullpen turnaround

Chicago Cubs Jacob Webb — Aug 22, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Jacob Webb (71) leaves for the dugout after surrendering a walk-off home run against the Seattle Mariners during the ninth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

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But these last few games have given everyone hope that things can turn around—and that they, indeed, may be turning around.

Over the last three games, the Cubs bullpen has delivered 10.1 scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits and 2 walks sprinkled over that span.

Saturday’s 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates perfectly capped off this quality run.

The showing by Jacob Webb, who threw 1.1 scoreless, was an especially positive development.

The veteran righty had worked his way into becoming the team’s de facto closer after the injuries of Daniel Palencia, but posted a horrendous 17.34 ERA over his previous 6 outings and was making “I’m tired of letting the team down” statements to the media.

A high-stress Webb rebirth

May 30, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Jacob Webb (71) is is congratulated by catcher Miguel Amaya (9) after the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-Imagn Images

The idea was to get Webb back into the mix and slowly boost his confidence ahead of the playoffs, but situations had forced manager Craig Counsell into using him in a high-stress moment in relief of Clay Holmes—with two outs in the sixth, the bases loaded, and the Pirates on the verge of breaking the game wide open.

Webb closed out the inning, however, and then went on to pitch a scoreless seventh.

“To be honest,” Counsell told reporters after the game, “it wasn’t the ideal situation I wanted to put him in for his next appearance. … I’m really happy for Jacob. He pitched great — earned it today.”

“What Webby did today was huge,” Holmes also said. “That was probably the game there. That gave us the chance to come back and win.”

After Webb, lefty Ryan Rolison pitched an inning and two-thirds and Ryan Zeferjahn closed things out with a third of an inning.

“The bullpen held it down,” Webb said. “That’s what we need to be doing every time. I know it doesn’t work like that, but I think we have a really good bullpen down there, and the guys are going to keep putting up zeros.”

All in all, Saturday was an example of how a healthy Cubs bullpen could look. Edward Cabrera joining the pen may or may not pan out, but the relief corps now has some forward momentum and is working with the confidence of having turned things around, at least for a few games.

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