(670 The Score) The Cubs’ pitching was their big weak link in 2021, and it’s their wild card as the team now enters the new season.
Gone from the starting rotation are Jake Arrieta, Zach Davies and Trevor Williams, who all struggled mightily for Chicago in 2021 as the Cubs ranked 27th in MLB with a 4.87 ERA. Among the fresh faces in the rotation now are Marcus Stroman and Wade Miley, who’s set to open the season on the injured list with elbow discomfort.
Stroman was the big addition, joining the Cubs on a three-year, $71-million deal after posting a 3.02 ERA in 33 starts for the Mets last season. He’ll be counted on to log a big workload throughout the course of the season, though that’s a bigger challenge in April for every pitcher and team after spring training lasted just 24 days. Stroman is in line to start Saturday in the Cubs’ third game of the season.
"I enjoy any tasks that can be thrown at me,” Stroman told reporters. "It makes us as a group have a little bit more confidence to go out there and go deeper in games ... That is something that we take pride in.”
The Cubs will also be looking for a bounce-back season from right-hander Kyle Hendricks, who will get the Opening Day start against the Brewers on Thursday. Hendricks had a career-worst 4.77 ERA in 2021 but has made a few adjustments since.
Manager David Ross will have the luxury of using a few left-handers this season after employing a staff that was made up entirely of low-velocity right-handers in the first few months of the 2021 season. Left-hander Justin Steele will start against the Brewers on Friday, and left-hander Drew Smyly is set to take the hill Sunday. Miley is also a southpaw who projects to fill a key rotation role once he’s healthy.
"It is going to be important that we have a little bit of length from our starting rotation in areas,” Ross said. “When you look at the length of some of the relievers and guys we signed late in camp, there are not a lot of back-to-backs for bullpen guys.”
Right-hander Alec Mills and right-hander Keegan Thompson are another pair of pitchers who could be used as starters or could be used to piggyback behind a different starter. Mills had a 5.07 ERA in 32 appearances, including 20 starts, last season. Thompson had a 3.38 ERA in 32 appearances, including six starts.
The Cubs’ bullpen is full of new faces as well. Ross figures to use a closer-by-committee approach, with Rowan Wick and newcomers in David Robertson, Jesse Chavez (who played for the 2018 Cubs), Mychal Givens in that mix or set to be used in high-lever situations.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.