When your two highest paid players aren’t delivering and the team is underperforming, that’s just how it goes — the criticism comes with the job title. But there’s one area where Hoyer keeps quietly proving his doubters wrong, year after year, and it’s time to give him his flowers for it.
Building a quality bullpen on a budget. And in 2026 his latest masterpiece goes by the name of Ryan Rolison.
From The Scrap Heap To The Circle Of Trust
Rolison was a waiver claim from the Chicago White Sox late in the offseason. That’s it. No big money deal, no headline signing, no fanfare. Just a former first round pick who hadn’t found his footing at the big league level yet, quietly picked up and handed an opportunity.
Fast forward to today — five wins on the season, an ERA of 2.49 and a place firmly in manager Craig Counsell’s circle of trust. Not bad for a guy nobody else wanted badly enough to keep.
So How Is He Actually Doing It
Here’s the honest truth about Rolison’s numbers — they’re not exactly eye popping on paper. His Baseball Savant metrics grade him above league average in only a handful of categories. He doesn’t generate much chase or swing and miss. He’s not blowing anyone away with pure stuff.
But what he does have is an 84th percentile groundball rate. And in a park where Nico Hoerner, Alex Bregman and Dansby Swanson are patrolling the infield, that’s basically a cheat code.
Rolison keeps the ball on the ground and lets the defence do the work behind him. Simple, effective and repeatable. The two full run gap between his ERA and FIP tells you everything — this is a pitcher whose success is deeply connected to the quality of the defence supporting him. And right now that partnership is working beautifully.
The Bigger Picture For Hoyer
Rolison is just the latest chapter in a story Hoyer has been writing for years. Bounceback candidates, reclamation projects, waiver wire gems — the Cubs’ bullpen has been built on this philosophy and it keeps delivering results.
It doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves because it’s not glamorous. Nobody gets excited about a waiver claim the way they get excited about a blockbuster signing. But winning baseball games doesn’t care about glamour.
And with Rolison controllable through 2030 at minimal cost, the Cubs might just have stumbled onto a left handed bullpen piece for the next several years — all for the price of a waiver claim that barely made the news cycle.
Jed Hoyer finds gold where nobody else is looking. And Ryan Rolison is just the latest proof. ⚾🔥
