A Cubsmas Advent Calendar: Adbert Alzolay is a closer

Adbert Alzolay celebrates a save against the Brewers in late AugustThis is Day Ten of a Cubsmas Advent Calendar. You can read the explanation for the project and Day One here.

The Cubs basically played three different seasons in 2023, and you can mark them by the presence and productivity of two different players. Today, I’m going to look at one of those players in depth, a guy who seemed to finally emerge in a role that was made for him: Adbert Alzolay as the Cubs closer.

I wrote about this in late September as it was becoming clear that the Cubs playoff chances were fading as Adbert was sidelined with an injury. The bottom line is that from the start of the season until Alzolay took over as…