August 3, 2020: The Back End

We know the names: Hendricks, Lester, Darvish, Quintana. They were supposed to lead a pretty solid starting rotation for the Cubs in 2020. As usual, everything doesn’t go according to plan. Quintana sliced his throwing hand washing dishes; he hasn’t made one pitch yet. Darvish & Hendricks have had 1 good start & 1 bad start; Lester has been really good in both. The topic of this blog today is the other two guys, the back end of the rotation if you may. They have been the best surprise thus far this year for the Cubs.

Tyler Chatwood, let’s start with him. I’ve been to see him pitch in person many times, unfortunately. Every time, he has not performed well. Back in 2018, as part of the Cubs rotation, he sucked; there’s really no other way to put it. He had zero control, walking batters left and right. 2019 was a bit of a rebound year for him. Instead of starting, he came out of the bullpen, and was successful. It took a while to believe that he had improved from 2018, but as he built up solid bullpen appearance after solid bullpen appearance, I was happy; I was happy that he was a positive contributor, especially after that tough year. As 2020 rolled around, Tyler was asked to start again… uh oh. After watching him pitch in the first game against the Brewers, I was a believer; why did it only take me one start to believe in him? I believed in him enough to pick him up on my fantasy team. Let me tell you why.

There is no crowd. I’m not going to say this is the number one reason, but I do think he pitches better under less pressure. Like I said, those games I was at, as he walked batter after batter, the crowd was restless to put it nicely. The boos began to reign down; he started pitching worse. The ball was rolling down the hill, and it was not stopping. Secondly, David Ross is helping him I believe. Having an ex-catcher as a manager, one that has handled rotations, including “special” pitchers like Lester in the past, is really helping us out. I think he has helped boost his confidence. Finally, Chatwood himself. Maybe he’s finally figured it out, how to control that stuff of his. He does have good stuff; he could just never control it. After 2 starts, so far so good, and that’s been huge for the Cubs.

Alec Mills is up next, the winning pitcher in Monday night’s ballgame vs the Royals. Kyle Hendricks Jr may be a bit much, but he is a very similar pitcher. His fastball is faster, but he relies a lot on location. By the way, I don’t recall a pitcher hitting his locations as consistently as Mills did on Monday night. It stood out to me. Wherever Willson setup, he was hitting for the most part. After 2 starts for him so far so good. These performances have made people begin to question if Quintana should get a spot in the rotation when he’s ready; I’m not sure I’m there yet, but certainly think Mills has earned whatever role he gets. I like the way Ross gave him a little rope yesterday, pitching through the 7th. It wasn’t a clean game, especially early, but the fact that he was able to pitch around trouble, is pretty telling too.

Seeing these guys pitch well has been a huge lift for the Cubs; will it continue? Not sure, but in a short season, it’s easier to ride that wave; that wave may last the whole season! 8-2 baby! Go Cubs!