Are Chicago Cubs relievers missing sticky stuff or are they just exhausted?

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The Chicago Cubs organization has seen brighter times as we near the dreaded trade deadline here at the end of July. With Joc Pederson already in Atlanta, the writing seems to be on the wall for this team but there is still much uncertainty as to what will actually happen. With this team playing their worst baseball of the year, one thing that sticks out (no pun intended) is the bullpen’s regression since the implementation of foreign substance checking on June 21.

Before June 21, the Cubs bullpen was rolling as they ranked first in all of baseball with a 2.62 ERA. Get the ball to them and it was almost a guarantee they would hold things down. This…