Position: Starting pitcher 2017 Stats: IP K% BB% GB% HR/FB% BABIP ERA DRA 180.2 23.6 7.9 46.2 15.8 .310 4.33 3.94 Year in Review: By most accounts, Jon Lester’s 2017 was a disappointment. Every one of the above stats represents a worse performance than 2016, and, sometimes, Lester looked more like a league-average starter than […]
Author: Zack Moser
BP Wrigleyville Wants You!
BP Wrigleyville is looking to add aspiring writers to our staff on an intern basis. For three years now, BP Wrigleyville has sought to provide unique, critical perspectives on the Chicago Cubs, and we are eyeing 2018 with the goal of both continuing the excellent work that our writers have produced, while striking out in […]
With Cishek in Tow, Cubs Speed Toward a Complete Bullpen
If you blinked, you might have missed the Cubs completing most of their 2018 bullpen this week. Only days after inking Brandon Morrow to a two-year, $21 million deal with a vesting option, the club reeled in righty-killing, groundball-willing Steve Cishek, who spent parts of 2017 in Seattle and Tampa Bay. With Morrow slotting in […]
Cubs Happily Prep for 2019, too, Sign Drew Smyly
It’s mid-December, the Winter Meetings are underway, and the Cubs have already inked three pitchers to multi-year contracts. Two of those signings—Tyler Chatwood and Brandon Morrow—are primarily for 2018, as the Cubs found themselves with glaring holes in both the rotation and the bullpen, but the third positions them well for 2019. That’s because Drew […]
Cubs Target Profile: Yu Darvish
The Cubs have snagged a trio of pitchers on the free agent market in the past week, adding Tyler Chatwood on a three-year, $38 million deal, Brandon Morrow on a two-year, $21 million contract, and Drew Smyly on a two-year deal. Morrow figures to receive a shot at the vacant closer’s role, while Chatwood assumes […]
For Chatwood, Chicago Offers Opportunity
Before Jerry Dipoto went and did that thing he does—in this case, dealing for Dee Gordon—the big news of the Thursday hot stove was Tyler Chatwood’s three-year, $38 million deal with the Cubs. Many were quick to point out Chatwood’s velocity, groundball rate, and relative youth as the primary factors in his big payday, and […]
2017 Player Profile: Héctor Rondón
Position: Relief pitcher 2017 Stats: IP K% BB% ERA DRA BABIP GB% HR/FB% 57.1 29.1 8.4 4.24 3.57 .292 48.3 19.6 Year in Review: For the second year in row, Rondón lost the favor of Joe Maddon and found himself as one of the last relievers sitting in the bullpen most nights. The merit of this […]
2017 Player Profile: Jason Heyward
Position: Right field 2017 Stats: Avg. OBP SLG HR TAv wRC+ FRAA WARP .259 .326 .389 11 .254 88 12.0 2.1 Year in Review: How does one assess Jason Heyward in 2017? It’s nearly an impossible task at this point, since one is going to come to only two conclusions: Heyward is bad at hitting […]
Assessing the Cubs’ Defense in a Metric-less World
If you have your ear to the ground, you might be hearing the beginnings of a seismic shift in baseball analytics. No—it’s not the mythical “bullpen revolution” that so many have seized upon as the privileged narrative of mainstream analytics writing. Truth be told, that “revolution” is merely the loudening machinations of the long march […]
2017 Player Profile: Pedro Strop
Position: Relief pitcher 2017 Stats: 60.1 IP, 26.0 K%, 10.4 BB%, 2.83 ERA, 3.42 DRA (72.7 DRA-), .270 BABIP, 59.2 GB%, 8.7 HR/FB% Year in Review: Pedro Strop has quietly been one of the best, most consistent relievers in baseball over the last five years, with DRA marks 30-50 percent better than league average and […]