Cub of Coffee

The 12 Best Cubs Relief Moments of the Season So Far

Sat, 09 May 2026 18:25:51 -0400

The Cubs have the best record in baseball at 27-12, despite many pitching injuries. A large part of their recent success has been relievers stepping up and performing way above expectations. Because things like this often get lost in the course of a season, I wanted to record some of the most impressive times Cubs relievers have done more than what could reasonably be expected of them during the team’s hot start to the season.

Let's Find an Optionable Starting Pitcher

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 22:52:42 -0500

Even after signing Kyle Wright to a minor league deal, it feels like the Cubs are still looking for more starting pitching. This can either come in the form of free agents with guaranteed MLB deals, or they could turn to the trade market to find a starting pitcher that may be destined for another team’s AAA affiliate. The free agents like Zac Gallen have gotten plenty of attention, but it’s hard to think of trade options due to the sheer number of pitchers.

What's Wrong with Ryan Brasier?

Sun, 10 Aug 2025 17:06:21 -0400

From the time he came back from the injured list through his first outing against the White Sox, Ryan Brasier had established himself as a trusted middle reliever. He had a 0.49 ERA, 1.69 FIP, and 2.76 xFIP while striking out 25% of the batters he faced and walking just 3.1%. Since his second appearance in that series, however, Brasier has allowed eight runs in 3 2/3 innings, good for a 19.64 ERA, 9.92 FIP, and 6.12 xFIP. With several pitchers set to come off the injured list in the next week and limited roster flexibility, Brasier’s place in the bullpen suddenly looks like it could be in jeopardy. At first glance, though, it’s hard to see what has changed under the hood.

Are the Cubs Treating Busch and Turner Differently?

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 17:27:37 -0400

I was listening to the Bleacher Nation Cubs podcast and they mentioned being confused as to why the Cubs pinch-hit for Michael Busch when a lefty reliever comes in but leave Justin Turner in to face a righty reliever. It does feel like we’ve seen a lot of Justin Turner, but I wanted to check and see how often this was happening.

Turner has played in 13 games from start to finish. Busch started alongside him in 5 of those games. In 3 of the other 8 games, Busch PH for someone else, so Turner has played over Busch for the whole game 5 times this year.

Nico Hoerner is Not Easily Replaced

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 22:23:54 -0500

With the latest Alex Bregman/Cubs rumor, there’s been some proposing the idea of signing Bregman and trading Nico Hoerner, allowing Matt Shaw to play his natural position at second base.

Due to the Cubs’ positional depth at 2B and the number of defense-first players on the roster, I think Hoerner has become underrated by Cubs fans.

Among all players across the last two seasons, Hoerner is:

36th in games played (after being banged up a bit in years past)
8th in stolen bases and baserunning runs
13th in Outs Above Average
25th in fWAR, between Bryce Harper, Alex Bregman, Matt Chapman, and Adley Rutschman.

That’s comparing Hoerner to all players, though. Among players with 600+ PA in the last 2 seasons at second base, Hoerner ranks:

The Cubs Should Sign an Old Reliever

Mon, 06 Jan 2025 22:16:37 -0500

The Cubs are still looking for relief help, and two of the best options left on the market pitched for the same team in 2024 and will be over 37 years old in 2025. Kirby Yates (entering his age 38 season) and David Robertson (entering his age 40 season) were two of the game’s best relievers last year for the Rangers, and their age and ninth-inning experience make them good fits for the Cubs.

Cub of Coffee 5/30/24: Cubs 4, Brewers 6

Thu, 30 May 2024 19:41:52 -0400

After a rough month, the Cubs’ playoff odds are the lowest they’ve been all season. There are many reasons why, but instead of talking about this specific game, I thought I’d take a broader look at where the Cubs stand in respect to the rest of the league.

Their position players rank 21st in fWAR, and they’re tied for the 21st best offense in baseball. Statcast’s OAA defensive metric has them as the second-worst defense in baseball. Even if you replaced Christopher Morel with an average defensive third baseman they would still be tied for 20th. I went through and compiled a table of where the Cubs’ production at each position ranks out of all 30 teams:

Cub of Coffee 5/23/24: Cubs 0, Braves 3

Thu, 23 May 2024 21:24:48 -0400

The Cubs are officially in a slump, just 3-7 in their last 10 games. No one wants to read much about this series, so I’ll just leave you with some bullet points.

Ian Happ got 4 of the Cubs’ 14 hits in this series and none were cheap hits. It’s good to see some progress from a hitter who is very important to this lineup.
Ben Brown was good in a spot start against a great lineup. His fastball continued to get hit pretty well, and he walked two, but Brown struck out six in just four innings. He got nine whiffs on his curveball.
Hayden Wesneski came out of the bullpen today and threw two fastballs at 92 MPH or below to Jarred Kelenic, the second of which was hit for a home run. He didn’t throw any fastballs under 93 MPH the rest of his outing, but it’s something to monitor with Wesneski not accustomed to being used like a normal reliever.
Yan Gomes was better than the Cubs could have hoped in his role last year. This year, however, he’s hitting .174/.183/.275 with a 26 wRC+. Gomes is rating as one of the worst-framing catchers as well. Amaya has played in 11 more games than Gomes, so it seems like the Cubs have been shifting to more of a 60/40 split. I know teams are reluctant to bring in a new catcher at the trade deadline, and the Cubs’ pitching staff has been performing well, but they may have to consider trading for a catcher if this continues.
Nico Hoerner struck out three times in a game for just the third time in his career on Tuesday night, then walked the game off in his fourth plate appearance and hasn’t struck out since.
Luke Little’s two most recent appearances were his first two consecutive outings without walks of his major league career.

The Cubs go to St. Louis to play the Cardinals, who are coming off a sweep of the Orioles. Thankfully, the pitching matchup tomorrow is in their favor.

Cub of Coffee 5/19/24: Cubs 2, Pirates 3

Sun, 19 May 2024 20:20:34 -0400

That was a rough series. Luckily, the Cubs remain firmly in the second Wild Card spot.

Ben Brown’s fastball problem Ben Brown’s line today looks great, with three strikeouts and just one walk in two innings of work. Unfortunately, the first two batters he faced both barreled the ball, once for a flyout and once for a ground rule double. Both of those were off of relatively well-located fastballs toward the top of the strike zone. Brown did get the next batter looking at a fastball, but all the other outs came on his curveball. I’m not trying to take anything away from Brown, who has been a productive member of the pitching staff as a rookie, and has been moved between roles. For him to become a good starter or a dominant reliever, though, he’ll need to refine his command or add another pitch to keep hitters off his fastball.

Cub of Coffee 5/15/24: Cubs 7, Braves 1

Thu, 16 May 2024 18:59:57 -0400

Taking one game in Atlanta is all the Cubs needed, and they managed to do just that in fairly relaxing fashion last night.

Ben Brown has been hit hard

Ben Brown has been impressive in his time in the majors so far. He’s been able to move between long relief and starting roles, and he’s provided stability in both. One thing came up when I was looking at his Statcast numbers, though: when hitters make contact with Brown’s pitches, they’re hitting them hard. He has allowed the second highest hard-hit rate and second highest average exit velocity in baseball this year. Most of this is due to Brown’s fastball: the hard-hit rate against his fastball is the highest of any pitcher. Brown is still getting good results because that contact isn’t all in the air, and his curveball has been great, but it’s something to monitor as the season goes on.

Cub of Coffee 5/12/24: Cubs 5, Pirates 4

Sun, 12 May 2024 19:33:30 -0400

The Cubs needed that win today after last night’s weirdness and a three-game set against Atlanta starting Monday.

Adbert Alzolay is searching

Despite getting the save, Adbert Alzolay allowed another two runs. Alzolay pitched a scoreless ninth on Friday, but he gave up two barrels in the process. He allowed another today to Connor Joe, and has now allowed the second most barrels per plate appearance of any pitcher with at least 50 batted ball events, and has already allowed nine barrels this year, just one fewer than he allowed all of last season. It’s hard to blame Counsell for using him in the tenth inning, since it doesn’t seem like the Cubs had any other pitchers available today. I’m not entirely sure what the fix is, but at this point, it’s just hard to watch—Alzolay seems like a good person and he was so good for much of last year.

Cub of Coffee 5/10/24: Cubs 7, Pirates 2

Sat, 11 May 2024 14:27:29 -0400

That game went better than I expected, as the Cubs were able to beat up on two pitchers who have been very good this year.

Cody Bellinger is back I went into the season curious to see if Cody Bellinger could repeat his offense from last year, and after a rough start to the year he got hurt just as he was heating up. With four hits (including an impressive homer) last night, Bellinger is hitting .538/.538/1.154 in his three games since coming back from the injured list. That performance raised his season line to .268/.345/.536 for a 141 wRC+. Bellinger has walked more than last year while striking out at the same rate, and while he’s still outperforming his expected stats, those have improved since last season as well. If there’s one nit to pick, both OAA and DRS have Bellinger as a negative defender in center field this season. It’s possible this is early season variance, though DRS had him as a poor center fielder last year as well. However, there were more questions about Bellinger as a hitter, and he’s been better than I expected.

Cub of Coffee 5/5/24: Cubs 5, Brewers 0

Sun, 05 May 2024 19:28:07 -0400

Despite starting the weekend with a rough loss, the Cubs bounced back to win the first series of the year between what look to be the two best teams in the NL Central. The season series feels like it will be tight, so it’s good to get wins while you can.

Starting pitching strength Neither Justin Steele or Shōta Imanaga pitched in this series, but the Brewers were held scoreless by Cubs starters, who combined to allow just 9 hits and 7 walks in 18 1/3 innings with 19 strikeouts. The Cubs’ rotation has carried the team during this time without Seiya Suzuki and Cody Bellinger, despite injuries to Justin Steele and ineffectiveness from Kyle Hendricks. The extent of Javier Assad’s success still surprises me, but it’s hard to argue against at this point. For something which had a lot of questions entering the year and got off to an uneven start, the starting rotation has been the strength of this team.

Cub of Coffee 5/4/24: Cubs 6, Brewers 5

Sat, 04 May 2024 21:13:04 -0400

Another close game today helped demonstrate two pitching trends from the last few weeks.

The Cubs were right about starter depth Despite their ace pitching in one game so far this season and Kyle Hendricks having an ERA of 12, the Cubs’ rotation has the fifth lowest ERA in baseball. They also have the sixth best FIP and the fifth most fWAR. Cubs starters have only pitched the seventeenth most innings, and their average fastball velocity is 25th in the league, but they’ve gotten great results.

Cub of Coffee 5/1/24: Cubs 1, Mets 0

Wed, 01 May 2024 22:49:10 -0400

Like a couple of their recent victories, I’m not sure the Cubs should have won that game, but they did, and it counts.

There’s not much to address on the offensive end tonight, so I’ll leave you with some Shōta Imanaga stats.

Imanaga’s ERA is just 0.78, the lowest in baseball of any pitcher who has thrown 20 innings.
Imanaga now has 1.2 fWAR, seventh in baseball. He’s between Tarik Skubal and George Kirby.
Imanaga’s walk rate is the fourth lowest of any pitcher who has thrown 20 innings this year.
Imanaga’s K-BB% is 17th best, tied with Zack Wheeler and just ahead of Logan Gilbert.
Imanaga’s FIP is 2.24, sixth lowest in the league.
Even though xFIP likes Imanaga the least of ERA/FIP/xFIP, it still has him as a top 30 pitcher in baseball this year.

We can’t expect this out of Imanaga for the rest of the season, but he’s been one of the best pitchers in baseball no matter how you look at it, and tonight’s performance adds to his amazing start.

Cub of Coffee 4/29/24: Cubs 3, Mets 1

Mon, 29 Apr 2024 22:41:50 -0400

The Cubs stole this one in electrifying fashion, and it felt like they needed it.

Jameson Taillon likes New York Jameson Taillon has now made three starts in New York as a Cub:

8IP, 1H, 0R, 2BB, 4K @ NYY 7/7/23
7IP, 3H, 2R, 0BB, 7K @ NYM 8/8/23
And tonight, 7.1IP, 4H, 1R, 1BB, 1K

In all, that’s 22.1IP, 8H, 3R, 3BB, 12K for a 1.21 ERA. Taillon wasn’t dominant tonight strikeouts-wise, but he was efficient and didn’t allow a ton of hard contact. His fastball didn’t have as much run as it has at points this year either, which was a problem last year. Taillon hasn’t been an ace, but he has been able to stabilize the Cubs’ rotation just when they needed it.

Cub of Coffee 4/26/24: Cubs 7, Red Sox 1

Sat, 27 Apr 2024 15:05:42 -0400

I have a few short stats for you before today’s game…

Shōta Imanaga has been the ninth most valuable pitcher in baseball by fWAR. He has the eleventh highest K-BB%, just below Luis Castillo and Zack Wheeler. He has the surface numbers of an ace, and the underlying numbers of a good #2 starter.
Keegan Thompson got three more whiffs on his four-seam fastball last night. That’s the third time he’s done that this year, after managing it just once last year.
Alexander Canario and Mike Tauchman are the only Cubs outfielders who rate positively by Statcast’s Outs Above Average.

See you soon after Ben Brown takes on the Red Sox.

Cub of Coffee 4/25/24: Cubs 3, Astros 1

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 22:10:49 -0400

This was a much more fun series than the last one.

Javier Assad might just be good Javier Assad has a 2.00 ERA on the season, with a 3.30 FIP and 4.01 xFIP. He was a good story with unsustainable results in 2022, but he pitched very well last year in every role a pitcher can have. This year, he’s striking out the most batters of his career. Assad has increased his four-seamer usage, so now he’s throwing a sinker, cutter, and four-seamer all between 25%-30% of the time and it seems to be working, as he has one of the lowest hard hit rates allowed in baseball. Watching Assad pitch is a weird experience, since he walks more batters than you’d expect for a pitcher with a contact-manager profile. Still, the lack of hard contact and the slight uptick in strikeouts means this version of Assad could be here to stay.

Cub of Coffee 4/21/24: Cubs 3, Marlins 6

Sun, 21 Apr 2024 19:16:57 -0400

It’s hard to sweep a four-game series, but a third of the Marlins’ wins this year coming against the Cubs doesn’t feel great.

Reliever roles Craig Counsell mentioned before the game that Adbert Alzolay would not get the save opportunity if one arose today, and he was instead deployed against the bottom half of the Marlins lineup. He retired the three hitters he faced in order and looked fine doing so against weak competition (the OPS of the hitters he faced: .567, .702, .542). It’s good to see that he won’t get blown up every outing, but clearly there’s some things that he still needs to work on. In the meantime, the Cubs don’t have any obvious alternatives. Héctor Neris has experience, but he’s walked as many batters as he’s struck out. Luke Little and Daniel Palencia have the same issues albeit with better stuff (and less experience). Yency Almonte has been fine, but wild and is best suited to getting out right-handed hitters. Mark Leiter Jr. has been the Cubs’ best reliever, but it’s hard to take him out of the fireman role. Drew Smyly has been pretty reliable, but is best used in a multi-inning role. If I had to guess, the Cubs will probably continue to use Leiter against the best pocket of left-handed hitters. If that’s not in the ninth inning, they may rely on Neris’ experience in the role and hope his numbers improve. The alternative is asking a lot out of Keegan Thompson, who did get the ninth today but has limited experience going on back-to-back days, or Ben Brown, who has great stuff but may be better in a multi-inning role. There isn’t an obvious solution to this problem, so Craig Counsell will have to live up to his reputation as a tactician for the team to make it through this stretch until roles can become more clear.

Cub of Coffee 4/19/24: Cubs 8, Marlins 3

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 19:16:59 -0400

That was a nice, easy win after a long West Coast road trip and a postponed game yesterday.

Jameson Taillon looks normal It was great to see Jameson Taillon return to the mound for the first time this year, as if he’s the pitcher he was in the second half of last year he’ll provide some much-needed quality innings. He didn’t have a tough assignment to start his season, but Taillon was great–he got swings and misses on 16.4% of his pitches on the day, the second highest percentage he’s had in his time with the Cubs. Not every start will be this good for Taillon, but it’s good to have him back to hopefully stabilize the rotation.

Cub of Coffee 4/13/24: Cubs 4, Mariners 1

Sun, 14 Apr 2024 15:46:27 -0400

That was a nice, relatively easy win. I’d write about Michael Busch continuing to hit, Morel’s improved defense, or Imanaga’s solid outing, but those are self-explanatory. Instead, I’m going to dig into the bullpen and see who I’m concerned about and who’s on the rise.

Héctor Neris’ velocity Despite being effective in some high-leverage appearances, Héctor Neris hasn’t looked sharp. His velocity on his three most-used pitches is down between 0.7 and 1.3 MPH from last year, and 2.3 to 3.5 MPH from 2022. It’s not steadily increasing throughout the season, either. Additionally, Neris’ splitter is getting less vertical movement than in previous years. It seems like he has been a great veteran presence in the bullpen, but his performance has been concerning. It’s a tiny sample, but Neris’ strikeout rate is down and his walk rate is up from last year, and both were already trending in the wrong direction last year. I’m not sure that the Cubs have an easy alternative here, though. The ideal version of Neris is frequently available and is effective against hitters from both sides of the plate. Julian Merryweather also filled this role, but with his injury the Cubs are very reliant on Neris regaining his previous form.

Cub of Coffee 4/12/24: Cubs 2, Mariners 4

Sat, 13 Apr 2024 15:57:20 -0400

These late games continue to be rough, as the Cubs are in a bit of a slide after taking the series from the Dodgers. Still, there are some interesting moments from last night’s game.

Wicks whiffs I’m not sure what kind of pitcher Jordan Wicks is. The industry has pegged him as a a low-variance back of the rotation starter who uses a great changeup to generate weak contact. This year, he looks different from the pitcher we saw last year. Of any pitcher who’s thrown 10 innings this year, Wicks has the eleventh highest swinging strike rate, about the same as Tyler Glasnow. He got the second most swings and misses in his career last night with 16, 12 of those on his changeup. Unfortunately, he was wild last night, and his walk rate is now up to 12.3%, which is higher than any Cubs starter last year. It seems like Wicks and the Cubs are still learning how to optimize his pitch usage with his newly effective fastball. I believe there’s more potential for Wicks than we thought going into the year, although it may take some growing pains for him to get there.

Cub of Coffee 4/10/24: Cubs 2, Padres 10

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 08:40:01 -0400

Sorry for the sporadic posts this week. The late night games are not conducive to writing after, and who wants to read more about the Cubs blowing an eight run lead? This game wasn’t much better, but it ended earlier and wasn’t quite as painful to watch.

Kyle Hendricks’ pitch movement Kyle Hendricks has had a rough start to his year, but the Cubs don’t have any choice but to keep him in the rotation to figure it out. The numbers are concerning, but:

Cub of Coffee 4/7/24: Cubs 8, Dodgers 1

Sun, 07 Apr 2024 21:53:20 -0400

Thanks for being patient while I traveled this week. I wasn’t expecting the Cubs to win this series against the Dodgers. Some notes from today’s rain-delayed game…

Imanaga’s impressive start It’s a shame that the rain cut Shōta Imanaga’s second outing short, because he looked excellent against one of the best lineups in baseball. He didn’t dominate the Dodgers quite as much as he did the Rockies, but still managed three strikeouts, only allowing two hits across four innings. I would’ve liked to see how Imanaga altered his pitch mix as the game went on as he threw nearly 80% fastballs, but he’s been better than I expected so far and I’m very much looking forward to his next start.

Cub of Coffee 4/1/24: Cubs 5, Rockies 0

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 23:01:23 -0400

That was a great home opener. Shōta Imanaga was stellar in the Cubs’ first shutout of the season, and provided something we don’t often see from Cubs pitchers.

Shōta Imanaga’s debut Imanaga looked great against the Rockies. He managed 20 swings-and-misses in just 92 pitches on the day, tied for the second most whiffs for a Cubs starter since 2022 (and one ahead of Jordan Wicks yesterday). The Cubs have had good pitchers, but they haven’t really had strikeout pitchers–Imanaga should be able to rectify that, even against stronger offenses than the Rockies away from their home park. Home runs will be a concern (there were probably two balls that would have gotten out in better weather), but if Imanaga is able to limit them to solo homers he should be fine. It was one game against a rough offense, but Imanaga showed why the Cubs see him as a possible high-end starter.

Cub of Coffee 3/31/24: Cubs 9, Rangers 5

Sun, 31 Mar 2024 21:31:17 -0400

Happy first Cubs win of the season! It was in doubt for much of the game, but they pulled it out behind five scoreless innings from the bullpen and a rally in the ninth inning.

Wicks’ impressive fastball It won’t look like it in the box score, but I think that was one of Jordan Wicks’ more encouraging outings of his short major-league career. The results weren’t great (though the defense didn’t do him any favors) and he walked three batters. Despite that, there are some good underlying indicators.

Cub of Coffee 3/30/24: Cubs 2, Rangers 11

Sat, 30 Mar 2024 21:56:48 -0400

This game was not nearly as fun as the first game, despite them both being losses and the fact that tonight we got to see a Cubs pitching prospect debut.

Kyle Hendricks’ horizontal break Hendricks wasn’t his usual sharp self tonight, resulting in a short outing. Despite having good velocity (his sinker was up a tick from last year), his command just wasn’t there. I wonder if his lack of command, or maybe just his mechanics being off in general, were related to the increased horizontal break on his pitches. Something to watch in his next start.

Cub of Coffee 3/28/24: Cubs 3, Rangers 4

Thu, 28 Mar 2024 23:47:20 -0400

Despite leading three times in this game, it felt like the Cubs were playing from behind after Justin Steele left his start with an injury in the fifth inning. Thoughts follow…

Merryweather the fireman? Why was Julian Merryweather the first man in after the Steele injury? It’s possible he was simply able to get ready the fastest, but it may also be an indicator that Counsell is thinking of using him in a fireman role this season.

2024 Cubs Preview: Five Numbers That Could Define the Season

Thu, 28 Mar 2024 16:09:54 -0400

Before the Cubs begin their season tonight in Texas and I kick off Cub of Coffee for the year, I wanted to share a season preview of sorts. Rather than give bold predictions for the year, I’ve picked five numbers that could tell us how the season will go.

1. Cubs’ record in one-run games

The Cubs’ first and most surprising offseason acquisition was their new manager, Craig Counsell. The team went 21-24 in one-run games last year, and their Pythagorean record was seven games better than their actual record, meaning they had the run differential of a 90 win team. While the Cubs didn’t solely bring in Counsell for his strategic acumen, this season will serve as a significant test of his influence over the team’s success in close games.

Cub of Coffee 2024-02-23

Fri, 23 Feb 2024 19:07:22 -0500

Welcome to Spring Training! The results don’t matter, but the Cubs got their Cactus League slate off to a good start with their 8-1 win over the White Sox.

The first notable thing about this game was revealed several hours before it started, with the lineup card showing Ian Happ at the top of the order. It’s possible this was just a way of getting Happ the most plate appearances before he exited the game (Morel and Amaya, the other two major league regulars, hit behind him). If it’s an indication that Happ is okay with leading off, though, that would be a great sign. Happ has all the characteristics of a modern leadoff hitter, but hasn’t felt right there in the past. Nico Hoerner is a fun hitter to watch, but his league average offensive production isn’t necessarily what you want out of the batter who will get the most plate appearances for your team. The best version of this Cubs team has a comfortable Happ in the leadoff spot.

About Cub of Coffee

Sun, 24 Dec 2023 00:41:55 -0500

Cub of Coffee is a Chicago Cubs fan blog with a simple premise: a few thoughts after every Cubs game.

You can get posts via the web site or the site’s RSS feed.

The site is run by Ben Bailey. You can view my past work, baseball and otherwise at the above link, or find me on Bluesky.

Low-Cost Cubs Reliever Targets for 2024

Sat, 07 Oct 2023 18:02:00 -0400

The Cubs bullpen faltered down the stretch. Jed Hoyer hasn’t indicated a propensity to spend big on relievers, either in free agency or in trades. Luckily for the Cubs front office, there are always multitudes of relievers available in the offseason. I’ve compiled a list of relievers that the Cubs could add to their bullpen next year in hopes of fortifying a weakness while not breaking the bank or depleting the farm system.

So, You Signed a Catcher

Sat, 19 Aug 2023 19:42:00 -0400

The Cubs designated Tucker Barnhart for assignment today in a move that was surprising only because of Barnhart’s salary for 2024. The backup catcher joins Trey Mancini, Edwin Ríos, and Eric Hosmer as depth signings that didn’t work out. Looking at the other catchers who were available, though, it’s hard to blame the Cubs’ front office on this one.

Name	Games	wRC+	WAR	WIth Team
Willson Contreras	102	123	2.1	Yes
Omar Narváez	30	65	-0.2	Yes
Christian Vázquez	78	64	0.5	Yes
Mike Zunino	42	62	-0.2	No (DFA)
Austin Hedges	69	24	0.6	No (Traded)
Roberto Pérez	5	12	-0.2	No (60 day IL)
Tucker Barnhart	47	53	0.1	No (DFA)
Gary Sánchez	62	112	1.4	No (DFA)
Luke Maile	59	91	0.2	Yes
Kevin Plawecki	0			No (DFA)
Curt Casali	40	38	-0.2	Yes
Jorge Alfaro	18	24	-0.4	No (DFA)
Pedro Severino	0			No (DFA)
Cam Gallagher	47	-13	-0.9	Yes
Luis Torrens	13	75	-0.1	No (DFA)
Sandy León	22	1	-0.4	No (DFA)
Andrew Knapp	0			No (DFA)

I was a proponent of signing either Narváez or Vázquez over Barnhart this offseason, but Narváez has been hurt and bad, and while Vázquez has out-performed Barnhart, he has two years and $20M left on his contract. In fact, only six free-agent catchers have been worth positive WAR this season: Contreras, Vázquez, Hedges, Sánchez, Barnhart, and Maile, and only three have out-hit the average catcher. The Cubs were set on not re-signing Willson Contreras, and Gary Sánchez was passed over by two organizations this season before finding a role with the Padres. I guess you could call Luke Maile a miss, but Barnhart accrued significantly more defensive value in his time with the Cubs, and they prioritized defense over offense at the catcher position.

Cubs Notes 7/8/23

Sat, 08 Jul 2023 00:41:00 -0400

The upcoming trade deadline has me thinking about the Cubs’ two most prominent potential trade pieces, Cody Bellinger and Marcus Stroman.

Cody Bellinger Has Been a Win and a Miss

With the Cubs struggling, I’ve thought a lot about which moves they missed and didn’t miss over the offseason. Trey Mancini, Eric Hosmer, Edwin Rios, Brad Boxberger, and Jameson Taillon have been bad, but Dansby Swanson, Cody Bellinger, and Mike Tauchman have been good. In many cases, the alternatives haven’t been much better (see José Abreu, Christian Vázquez, Jacob deGrom). One choice I had forgotten about, however, was that between Bellinger and Kevin Kiermaier.¹