The Cubs Rotation
Let’s face it, in baseball pitching wins World Series championships, and on paper the Chicago Cubs have one of the best starting rotations in Major League Baseball. Jon Lester, Yu Darvish, Jose Quintana, Kyle Hendricks, and Tyler Chatwood are those top five Let’s take a look at what the outlook for each starter will be heading into the 2018 season.
Jon Lester
2017 Recap
Jon Lester is slated to get the start on March 29th when the Cubs open the 2018 season against the Miami Marlins. It will be Lester’s third opening day assignment as a member of the Cubs, and his fifth season opening nod of his career.
Lester went 13–8 in 2017 with a 4.33 ERA witch was his highest Earned Run Average as a Cub. On a lighter note Lester hit his first big league homerun, and picked off a runner off of a base too, so Lester did accomplish a few different things, but truth he had one of his worst seasons as a big leaguer.
2018 Outlook
I fully expect Jon Lester to have a bounce back season in 2018. I expect him to enter 2018 reenergized, and with a new sense of confidence. Plus after working with Willson Contreras for the majority of 2017 season I expect the two to have a better chemistry as well.
I see Lester finishing with 16 wins with an ERA of around 3.40.
Yu Darvish
2017 Recap
Yu Darvish is entering his first season as a Cub after spending 2017 with the Rangers and Dodgers. Despite a 10–12 record Darvish had a solid 3.86 ERA, and 207 strikeouts.
2018 Outlook
Darvish will likely follow Lester in the rotation, and be the number two starter. I see Darvish finishing the 2018 season with 15 wins a 3.55 ERA, and 220 strikeouts.
Jose Quintana
2017 Recap
Jose Quintana came to the north side in a blockbuster trade with rival White Sox in late July of 2017. Quintana was solid in his half season with the Cubs going 7–3 with a 3.74 ERA including a complete game shutout in his Cubs debut in Baltimore against the Orioles.
2018 Outlook
I feel that Jose Quintana is going to have a solid 2018, but I think it will take another year or two before Cubs fans find out if he is worth the high price tag the Cubs payed for him. I see Jose Quintana finishing with 11 or 12 wins with an ERA around 4.00.
Kyle Hendricks
2017 Recap
Kyle Hendricks had a rough 2017 season. Hendricks only went 7 and 5, but still had a very respectable 3.13 ERA. Hendricks also spent time on the disabled list for the first time in his career. “The Professor” missed about a month in early July due to tendinitis in his right hand. All of these issues came after a season in 2016 which saw Hendricks join the conversation as an All-Star quality arm. He went 16–8 with an MLB best 2.13 ERA. Hendricks also started two of the biggest games in Chicago Cubs history. Game six of the National League Championship series against the Dodgers, and how could we forget Game seven of the World Series against the Indians.
2018 Outlook
I’m really excited about Kyle Hendricks in 2018. Like Jon Lester I feel like the full offseason did him a lot of good, and I fully expect him to return to something that resembles the man we saw in 2016.
I think Kyle Hendricks wins 15 games and I think he’ll finish the season with an ERA around 2.25, and I boldly predict that he will finish in the top ten in Cy Young voting.
Tyler Chatwood
The Cubs welcome another new member to their starting rotation. Tyler Chatwood is a 27 year old right hander who is coming to the Cubs after spending the past five seasons with the Rockies.
2017 Recap
Chatwood had a rough 2017 season, he went 8 and 15 with a 4.69 ERA in 25 starts. However, I highly recommend you take these numbers with a grain of salt. Remember, half of those starts took place at Coors Field, and in his time with the Rockies he has always been better on the road then in Denver.
2018 Outlook
Everybody knows that Tyler Chatwood is going to be the Cubs’ fifth starter, and realistically all teams need from their number five is between eight to ten wins, and to just keep the team in the ballgame, and Tyler Chatwood is a solid veteran arm who is fully capable of getting the job done.
I see Chatwood with 9 or 10 wins, and having an ERA around 4.65. If he is able to produce these numbers I will be very satisfied.
The Cubs’ Rotation as A Whole
On paper the list of Jon Lester, Yu Darvish, Jose Quintana, Kyle Hendricks, and Tyler Chatwood is one of the best in baseball, but the fact of the matter is that baseball isn’t played on paper.
The biggest question mark for the Cubs’ rotation in 2017 is Yu Darvish. There’s no doubt about talent, but there are worries about his arm just three years removed from Tommy John Surgery, and there is a worry that he is tipping his pitches. Regardless, Yu Darvish is a Cy Young quality starter, and if he pitches to what he is capable of the Cubs will be in very solid shape.
The biggest fear for every team is injuries to their starting staff, but thankfully for the Cubs they’ve got Mike Montgomery. He is going to start the year in the bullpen, but is there and ready to go if something were to happen to one of the top five arms. I see Monty getting eight to ten starts in 2018.
Heading into the 2017–18 offseason the Cubs had gaping holes in their starting rotation. Jake Arrieta wasn’t coming back nor was John Lackey, so Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer went to work, and filled those holes very well.
Get ready to watch some high quality starting pitching in 2018 Cubs fans!
