Despite the fact that the Chicago Cubs won their second game of the season on Saturday night, Joe Maddon still let his feelings be known about his own bullpen.
Maddon got caught on camera as the bullpen once again gave up run after run to the Milwaukee Brewers. This despite the fact that for once, his team's starting pitching had been good enough to hold the Brewers to two runs. His offense was also good enough to get off to a big lead.
None of that mattered once the call to the bullpen was made. Maddon brought in newly arrived relievers Kyle Ryan and Allen Webster before turning to Randy Rosario.
All three relievers managed to allow runs at about the level the bullpen has done all season so far.
Joe Maddon has one of those moments
His relief pitching continuing to get tattooed led to a rare honest moment from Maddon, who likely didn't realize there was a camera directly on him. One Twitter user was helpful enough to let us know what he was mumbling on camera. It appears that after Rosario allowed a couple of runs to score, the Cubs' manager can be seen mouthing "I'm so tired of this sh---"
More than one Chicago fan has taken to Twitter to let it be known that they too are more than a little tired of watching the club give up runs left and right. The problem is that it doesn't appear as though the bullpen is going to be stopping the trend of allowing opponents to score anytime soon.
Chicago Cubs continue to struggle on the mound
The relief pitching has gotten so bad that before Saturday's game, team president Theo Epstein did a mea culpa of sorts, taking full responsibility for the state of the pitching staff.
“It's been real close to, if not, a worst-case scenario for us, defensively and in terms of our pitching.
That gets your attention in a negative way. We're sorry we're putting our fans through this.”
This was a very obvious turn from earlier this week. On Tuesday afternoon, shortly before the Chicago Cubs blew another game, Epstein was asked about the fans' worries. His response to that question seemed to be pretty dismissive as he claimed that all "average" fans are worried about their teams' bullpens.
It was almost as if the Cubs read that quote and screamed: "hold my beer" at their boss. On Saturday, the pain continued as Ryan, Webster and Rosario combined for two innings pitched and allowed six runs.
The struggle on Saturday was especially concerning considering Webster and Ryan were supposed to be reinforcements for a unit that has struggled since opening day. They took the place on the roster of Mike Montgomery and Carl Edwards Jr.
If Saturday night was any indication, Joe Maddon and the rest of the Chicago Cubs' fandom is going to be sick of anyone they bring in right quick.
Joe - “I’m so tired of this shit” regarding the bullpen. #Cubs #CubsTalk pic.twitter.com/lcE1EX8HNa
— Chris (@cduta9902) April 7, 2019