Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Records another save Thursday
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Alzolay tossed 1.1 scoreless innings to record the save in Thursday's win over the Reds. He didn't allow any hits or walks, and struck out two.
Alzolay continued his good recent stretch, as he's now recorded seven straight scoreless outings, a span of 7.2 innings. He's a perfect 6-for-6 in save opportunities in that time and has 13 saves overall this season in 14 chances. Alzolay also has a tidy 2.27 ERA, and his strong play should keep him locked into the closer role for the Cubs moving forward.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Earns four-out save
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Alzolay allowed two hits over 1.1 scoreless innings Friday, striking out one and picking up a save against St. Louis.
Alzolay put two runners on base with no outs in the ninth inning but escaped with his 12th save of the year in a 3-2 victory. He's converted eight straight save opportunities since his last blown chance July 4. During that span, he's given up just two runs over 10 innings. Alzolay lowered his ERA to 2.33 and has a strong 52:7 K:BB through 46.1 frames.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Possible waiver wire pickups
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We've had reason to believe Alzolay is the Cubs closer since as far back as early June, but the team was so lacking in save chances that he had all of two saves for basically an entire calendar month. We needed more than that to confirm our suspicions, particularly given manager David Ross' past fickleness, and now we have it. Alzolay has seven saves in July and four in the Cubs' past five games. He appears to be good enough to hold onto the role, as the rest of his numbers show. There is the matter of how consistently the Cubs will provide him with save chances moving forward, particularly if they do a tear-down at the trade deadline, but even so, if you're looking for saves on the waiver wire right now, it's hard to imagine you're going to find a better source of them than Alzolay.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Earns another save
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Alzolay pitched a scoreless ninth inning to record the save in Wednesday's win over the White Sox.
A night after striking out the side to record a save, Alzolay retired the White Sox in order again to register his 11th save of the season in 12 chances. The righty is settling in as the Cubs' closer and should have decent job security at this point given his strong 2.40 ERA and 0.93 WHIP across 45 innings, to go along with 51 strikeouts.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Shuts door Tuesday
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Alzolay struck out all three batters he faced to record the save in Tuesday's win over the White Sox.
With the Cubs up 7-3 in the ninth inning, Michael Fulmer was used to start the frame. However, after he allowed the first two batters to reach, Alzolay was called on to put out the fire. The righty did so in quick order, striking out the side on 12 pitches. Alzolay has been a bright spot for the Cubs with 10 saves in 11 chances to go with a 2.45 ERA and 51 strikeouts across 44 innings. He looks to be getting more and more comfortable in the closer role.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Grabs another save Saturday
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Alzolay pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save in Saturday's win over the Cardinals. He allowed one hit and struck out two.
Alzolay recorded a save for the second straight day and now has nine of them this season. The righty has clearly moved ahead of Mark Leiter for closer duties, with the latter working the eighth inning again Saturday. Alzolay has looked comfortable in the role with a 2.51 ERA and 10.0 K/9 this year, and he should continue to see the bulk of the save opportunities for the Cubs.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Secures eighth save
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Alzolay picked up the save Friday against St. Louis, tossing a scoreless ninth inning. He didn't record a walk or strikeout.
Alzolay entered with a one-run lead and proceeded to retire Lars Nootbaar and Paul Goldschmidt in order before Nolan Arenado reached on a fielding error. Alzolay then plunked Willson Contreras to put the go-ahead run on base but secured the save by retiring Tyler O'Neill. The right-hander has run away with the Cubs' closing job since May 6, going 7-for-8 in save chances while posting a 28:4 K:BB across 26.1 innings during that stretch.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Ends first half with save
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Alzolay pitched a perfect ninth inning to record the save in Sunday's 7-4 win over the Yankees.
Alzolay made quick work of the Yankees on seven pitches, giving him his seventh save of the season in eight chances. The righty has excelled in a relief role this year after working as a starter earlier in his career. Alzolay now has a 2.29 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 43 strikeouts across 39.1 innings. He should continue to serve as Chicago's closer after the upcoming All-Star break.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Notches sixth save
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Alzolay gave up a hit and struck out one in a scoreless ninth inning Friday to record his sixth save of the season in a 3-0 win over the Yankees.
He needed 10 pitches (seven strikes) to complete the shutout after Jameson Taillon gave up only one hit over the first eight frames. Over his last 14 appearances, Alzolay has a 1.84 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 21:2 K:BB through 14.2 innings while converting five of six save chances, and the 28-year-old appears to have separated himself from the pack in the Chicago bullpen -- no other Cub has recorded a save in the last month.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Bounces back to record save
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Alzolay worked a perfect ninth inning to record the save in Wednesday's 4-3 win over the Brewers. He struck out two.
It didn't look like Alzolay would be needed Wednesday, but the Cubs hung three runs on Devin Williams in the top of the ninth inning to take a 4-3 lead. Alzolay then made quick work of the Brewers in the bottom half, striking out the first two hitters before getting Christian Yelich to fly out. The righty blew his first save of the season a night earlier, but he's been good overall with a 2.41 ERA and 42 strikeouts across 37.1 innings this year. He should remain Chicago's top closing option moving forward.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Blows save in Milwaukee
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Alzolay was charged with a blown save Tuesday against the Brewers after he gave up two runs on four hits and no walks over 1.1 innings. He struck out three.
The right-hander allowed an inherited runner to score before closing out the eighth inning, and he returned for the ninth but was unable to maintain a 6-4 advantage for his first blown save of the year. Alzolay went from late May to late June without giving up a run in 10 appearances, but he's now surrendered four runs (three earned) in his past two outings. The 28-year-old leads Chicago with four saves and should continue splitting closing duties with Mark Leiter.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Possible waiver wire pickups
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As a team, the Cubs have recorded only three saves in June, and two have gone to Adbert Alzolay. Not much of a tell, is it? Well, let's consider how they've used him in non-save chances. His past five appearances have been to finish out a game, twice for a save and twice, including Tuesday, with a four-run lead, which isn't far off from being a save. Furthermore, in the last four of those appearances, he was preceded by Mark Leiter, who's the only other Cubs pitcher to get a save in the past two months. Suffice it to say the closer role is coming down to those two, and it's pretty clear which way the Cubs are leaning.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Nabs fourth save
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Alzolay picked up the save Saturday against Baltimore. He struck out two over a scoreless inning while walking one and not allowing any hits.
Alzolay entered the game to protect a one-run lead in the ninth and got the first two batters to go down swinging before issuing a walk to Austin Hays. However, he made short work of Adley Rutschman in the next at-bat, getting him to ground out on a four-seamer to end the contest. It marked Alzolay's fourth save this season, and he has not allowed a run over eight appearances since May 21.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Secures third save
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Alzolay struck out two in a perfect inning to earn the save in Friday's 3-2 win over the Giants.
Alzolay has been in the high-leverage mix throughout the season, and he's now logged two saves and a hold over his last six appearances (6.1 innings). The right-hander continues to be effective in relief for the Cubs with a 2.10 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 30:4 K:BB through 30 innings overall. Mark Leiter, who is also in the closer committee, pitched 1.1 innings Friday to earn his 10th hold of the campaign.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Works eighth inning Friday
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Alzolay pitched a scoreless eighth inning in Friday's 2-1 win over the Padres. He struck out one.
Alzolay recently earned a two-inning save for the Cubs, but he was back in a setup role Friday, with Mark Leiter working the ninth for the save. With Brad Boxberger (forearm) out, Alzolay and Leiter should both continue to see high-leverage work, which gives each of them a boost in fantasy appeal, at least in the short term.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Takes third loss
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Alzolay (1-3) allowed two runs on three hits across an inning of relief to take the loss Sunday against the Phillies. He struck out one.
After six scoreless innings from starter Justin Steele, Alzolay promptly came in and allowed Philadelphia to score the first two runs of the game. Despite the losing record, Alzolay has been mostly good this season with a 2.66 ERA and 22 strikeouts across 23.2 innings. This was his first time allowing multiple earned runs in an outing since April 4.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Tough-luck loss Sunday
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Alzolay (1-2) allowed two runs (both unearned) on one hit over three innings as he took the loss against the Marlins on Sunday.
Despite being handed with the loss, Alzolay pitched well under some pressure circumstances and gave the Cubs a chance to walk things off in extras. The Marlins would end up scoring the game winning run off a balk from Alzolay, which was an extremely unfortunate way for the 28-year-old to lose the game. He tossed 37 pitches and likely won't be available out of the pen until at least Wednesday. For the year, Alzolay owns a 2.41, ERA, 0.80 WHIP and 18:3 K:BB over 18.2 innings. He and Mark Leiter have been the two most reliable bullpen arms for David Ross thus far.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Nails down first save
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Alzolay pitched a perfect ninth inning Saturday to record his first save of the season in a 4-2 win over the Marlins.
Brad Boxberger served up a walkoff homer Thursday while Mark Leiter and Michael Fulmer worked the late innings in Friday's victory, so roles at the back of the Cubs' bullpen could be in flux as manager David Ross tries to figure out how best to deploy his top arms. Alzolay has earned his spot in that group with a 2.87 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 18:3 K:BB through 15.2 innings, and he has a win and four holds through 13 appearances in addition to Saturday's save.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Earns first 2023 win
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Alzolay (1-0) allowed two runs on two hits across 2.2 innings of relief and earned the win Tuesday against the Reds. He struck out five.
Starter Hayden Wesneski didn't make it through five full innings, so Alzolay was needed for a bit of length, and he looked sharp outside of allowing a two-run home run to pinch hitter Stuart Fairchild. The righty made 21 starts for the Cubs back in 2021, though he worked exclusively as a reliever last season. Alzolay figures to stay in that role for the foreseeable future.
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Cubs' Adbert Alzolay: Set to start Wednesday
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Alzolay is slated to start Wednesday's Cactus League game against the Athletics, Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
The Cubs have said Alzolay is exclusively being viewed as a reliever this spring, but he's set to start his first Cactus League contest Wednesday. The righty likely won't work too deep into the game and the outing may resemble a multi-inning relief appearance, which could be Alzolay's typical usage this year. Alzolay made only six appearances last season due to a lat strain, all of which came out of the bullpen, but he did start 21 games back in 2021.
