PITTSBURGH — The Cubs have gone all season without a consistent left-handed option out of the bullpen. Drew Smyly’s move to the pen might have solved that problem.
‘‘It’s like I never left, I guess,’’ quipped Smyly, who made a start Tuesday in Detroit after three bullpen outings. ‘‘I get it. I haven’t been doing my job as a starter. So there’s nothing I can say or any type of way I can feel about it.’’
Before the Cubs’ 2-1 loss Friday to the Pirates, manager David Ross declined to say who will replace Smyly in the rotation. But lefty prospect Jordan Wicks’ recent performance at Triple-A Iowa has impressed the organization, and he was a healthy scratch from his last start.
‘‘If you don’t do your job, someone’s going to come to do it for you,’’ said Smyly, who pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning Friday in his first game back in the pen. ‘‘That’s how it’s been from Day 1. Doesn’t matter whether you’re a rookie or you have 10 years in the league, someone’s waiting to take your job. So you always know that.
‘‘But this is one of the reasons I chose to sign back here — because I thought the Cubs were really close to winning. And we are. We’re right here in the bottom stretch. So I’m happy to fill any type of role for them. I just want to help the team win and try to get us to that next step.’’
Smyly, a 10-year veteran, has experience out of the bullpen. He even moved into a relief role with the Braves in the last month of their 2021 season and World Series run. When he signed with the Cubs that offseason, the team set the expectation that he might have to tap into that versatility.
Smyly didn’t have to do that until last week, when he threw a scoreless inning in each of three games out of the bullpen. He simplified his approach in those outings, leaning heavily on his curve and secondarily on his sinker. He only walked one batter and limited opponents to a total of two hits.
‘‘Sometimes as a starter, I found myself this season getting really caught up in scouting reports and having to pitch certain hitters certain ways,’’ Smyly said. ‘‘It’s great to know what the hitters are trying to do against you or what he’s good at, to do my homework. But when you get too caught up in that, you start to lose yourself.’’
When Smyly returned to the rotation this week, he yielded seven runs in 3⅔ innings against the Tigers.
‘‘That was just a frustrating one all around,’’ Smyly said. ‘‘I didn’t feel good at all that game. My mechanics were way off and [I was] struggling with command, and I just didn’t pitch or execute or attack the way I needed to.’’
In the immediate aftermath, Ross called for ‘‘a little bit of grace’’ to be given to Smyly in his first game back from the bullpen. But in the following days, the Cubs made the decision to give someone else a chance in the fifth-starter spot.
‘‘I know I could fill a lot of different jobs in the bullpen, whether it’s long relief or a one-inning stint or lefty or whatnot,’’ Smyly said. ‘‘I do think I could be really good at it. So I’m hoping to turn it around in that role and help the team try to finish rolling and compete for a playoff spot.’’
