Chicago Cubs Shake Up Bullpen, Recall Intriguing Reliever for Upcoming Game

The Chicago Cubs keep tinkering with their bullpen as they try to find lasting solutions.

Sep 9, 2023; San Francisco, California, USA; Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Gavin Hollowell (64) throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the fifth inning at Oracle Park. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs have been outstanding early on in the 2025 season, with their offense firing on all cylinders and their pitching staff finding their groove. Shota Imanaga has been absolutely outstanding through the early part of the year as well, making life easy on the bullpen in multiple of his starts.

The bullpen has been hit or miss, though, and with the first few series out of the way, the Cubs have decided to change things up a bit for that group. They have decided to recall reliever Gavin Hollowell and option Jordan Wicks to Triple-A Iowa, as was reported by Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Wicks had a tough first few appearances of the season, giving up five runs (three earned) in two innings over his first two appearances after getting called up last week.

Hollowell has had a slightly larger sample size in Triple-A, appearing in five games (6.1 innings) with a 4.26 ERA, a 1.42 WHIP, 10 strikeouts and three walks.

The bullpen has been mixed up a bit compared to expectations with Ryan Brasier, Tyson Miller and Eli Morgan all on the injured list currently. Once they return, it will be intriguing to see who retains the bullpen spots available, and who ends up being optioned or otherwise moved off the roster to make room.

With two starters also on IL in Javier Assad and Justin Steele, the need for quality bullpen arms to take up some innings is high at the moment.