Chicago Cubs Core Is Fine – Their Pitching Isn’t

The Chicago Cubs Bullpen

More important than which core member of the Cubbies gets traded away is what they would receive in return. Presumably, the Chicago Cubs are dangling their stars for a promising-but-nebulous bounty of prospects. Such a package can manifest in a variety of forms.

What doesn’t usually come back in these deals, however, is what the Cubs need most: frontline starting pitching.

They might get high-quality pitching prospects, but they’re not likely to get one that’s ready to jump into the rotation from day one. That means that no matter who the Cubs trade away, there’s still going to be work to do.

What’s forgotten about the 2016 Cubs team is that they didn’t win on the strength of their position player core. They actually won in much the same fashion as the Nationals this season: a big three in the rotation and a choice collection of relievers. The Nats used pretty much six guys in their postseason victories.

The high leverage innings in the Cubs World Series wins were pretty much handled by five guys: Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta, Mike Montgomery, and Aroldis Chapman. Carl Edwards Jr. played a role as well, but when the game was on the line, Joe Maddon went to one of those guys.

Part of this is finding the right guys at the right time of year. Like Montgomery for the Cubs, Daniel Hudson isn’t a guy that most GMs would have handpicked to deliver a World Series. He may never prove as reliable an option as he was for Dave Martinez and the Nats down the stretch. That’s a hard factor to plan for in winter.

As for the other roles, the Cubs have some work to do. They hope Craig Kimbrel is the lockdown ninth-inning guy he has been in the past. It didn’t work last year, but because of the financial commitment, they have to prepare as if 2019 was an anomaly. Because of the late signing, it was a different kind of season for Kimbrel, and there’s at least the possibility that a more stable 2020 will produce more stable results.

They don’t have another proven guy in the bullpen, but that’s one area that has to continue to develop over the course of the season. It takes a lot of guys stepping up at various times in a Daniel Hudson type of way to get through the 162, and the Cubs are in the process of collecting arms who might step up for a stretch of that marathon.

Rowan Wick and Kyle Ryan are two of those guys, and Tyler Chatwood did enough to earn his spot in the bullpen as a regular-season contributor. Brad Wieck put together 14 solid appearances with a 2.71 FIP, so he’ll be a part of the picture, but he has an option remaining so he might not join the club on day one.

The good news for the Cubs is that it doesn’t always take a lot of money to build the right bullpen, but it does take a keen in-game tactician and emotional manager, and if there’s a learning curve for David Ross, that’s probably the area where he’ll need time to grow.

Even still, the 2020 ChicagoCubs have an even bigger problem on their hands: the rotation.