CHICAGO — Jed Hoyer and the Chicago Cubs aren’t going to stand pat when it comes to their bullpen.

“The goal is to kind of never rest and continue to optimize the guys we have and try to find opportunities to bring in new guys,” the Cubs president of baseball operations said before Tuesday’s series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Wrigley Field. “I never think about it as static. In part, because the guys who we have that are throwing well may struggle at times or get hurt. So, you just kind of have to continue to work on it.”

That’s why the Cubs pulled the trigger on a minor-league deal on Monday to acquire left-hander Drew Pomeranz from the Seattle Mariners. It’s why they optioned left-hander Jordan Wicks to Triple-A and recalled right-hander Gavin Hollowell on Tuesday. There will be plenty more moves in the relief corps this season, especially as they try and plug in the right formula to their early season bullpen woes.

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The Cubs’ bullpen had a 5.19 ERA entering Tuesday, the fifth-worst mark in baseball. That number is slightly inflated – they allowed eight runs in one inning to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second series of the season and 10 in the eighth inning against the Diamondbacks last Friday. If you take away those two frames, the Cubs would have a 3.40 ERA – which would be ninth best.

Of course, it doesn’t work that way and the bullpen is still a work in progress beyond that. They have an 18.3 percent strikeout rate, the third-lowest mark in baseball, and they’ve been asked to cover 86.2 innings, the seventh-most in the majors. The Cubs must find the right mix in that group.

The backend of their relief corps is – surprisingly – the one area that has been solidified. Ryan Pressly is Craig Counsell’s closer and Porter Hodge is his eighth-inning guy – or his second-highest leverage option. Right-handers Brad Keller and Julian Merryweather are the next two names on the pecking order. Caleb Thielbar is the lefty specialist and right-hander Ethan Roberts entered play Tuesday with one earned run allowed in 5.1 innings, etching his name into the picture, too.

It’s those final two spots that haven’t been solidified. Colin Rea was the long-option – and effective at it, too – but Justin Steele’s season-ending injury meant he’s back in the rotation. Daniel Palencia and Hollowell occupy those roles now. And while they may not seem as important as a closer, those spots are just as pivotal.

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Counsell needs to have options in his bullpen that he can rely on in a big deficit or in a comfortable lead to keep the score where it is. Those pitchers must be able to come in and cover in other situations, too, since relievers can’t pitch every night.

“I think, ultimately, the goal is to get to the point where eight guys in the bullpen are throwing well,” Hoyer said. “We haven’t gotten to that point yet. I think we’ve had a number of guys that have held leads for us, but we’ve struggled a little bit, kind of the back part of the bullpen. And that’s what we have to clean up.

“You can’t sit here and feel good about where we are, but I do think that a number of guys down there are throwing well. We’ve given up whatever the next level of crooked numbers are a number of times. We have to solve that issue and get to a place where we feel like everyone down there can throw up zeros.”