Chicago Cubs: Strop is one of the most underrated relievers in the game

Fans are always quick to criticize the bullpen. A certain Chicago Cubs bullpen guy has been with the team for several years, but his work tends to go unnoticed.

Hats to the left. That is what everyone says when Pedro Strop comes to the mound for the Chicago Cubs. Despite what fans might say and think, Strop has enjoyed a pretty solid Cubs career.

We all know how he got here.

In what is now a very lopsided trade, the Cubs acquired Pedro Strop and 2015 Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta from the Baltimore Orioles in 2013 for Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger. Like Arrieta, Strop needed a change of scenery. After strong 2012 campaign (2.48 ERA in 66 innings), Strop got off to a horrible start in 2013. In 22 games with Baltimore, he was 2-5 with a 4.55 ERA in 57 1/3 innings. However, things changed when he became a Cub

The lovable winners

Strop has never finished a season in his Cubs career with an ERA over 3.00. In fact, in 231 2/3 innings as a Cub, Strop owns a sparkling 2.68 ERA with 10.8 K/9 innings. Why then, is he highly criticized and underrated?

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Fans tend to only remember the bad and not always the good. As good as Strop has been, he’s been notorious for some really bad outings. For starters, he has never been very good against the division-rival Cardinals, against whom he owns a 4.61 career ERA.

Most of the that is from that dreadful 2015 season. In nine appearances against the Cardinals, Strop was 0-2 with an eye-opening 11.05 ERA. Fans, including myself, were screaming for Maddon to not use him against the Cardinals.

He also suffered a knee injury last year that derailed his season a bit. While he finished with strong numbers (2-2 with a 2.85 ERA in 47 1/3 innings), he struggled a bit in the playoffs. Thus, his playing time waned in the final weeks of the postseason. The Cubs admitted after the World Series that he wasn’t 100 percent healthy after the injury. That is partially the reason why he wasn’t used much. The Cubs didn’t have faith in him, because he wasn’t pitching as effectively.

These reasons caused fans to lose faith in him, but in reality, the Cubs should be happy to have him. He’s a very valuable piece of the bullpen. The Cubs signed Strop, 31, through the 2018 season with a club option for 2019 this winter.

Heating up of late

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Strop got off to a rough start, allowing four earned runs in his first eight innings. His biggest issue was the eight walks. Naturally, fans started to turn on him but, again, he proved why he’s been such a consistent reliever the last five years.

In the last month, Strop has allowed just one run and has only walked two in 8 2/3 innings pitched. Maddon used him in higher-leverage situations and he just recorded wins in two consecutive games this week.

The right-hander has not allowed an earned run in nine consecutive appearances since allowing runs in back-to-back outings in mid-May. He has walked two and struck out seven during this current scoreless streak.

His season ERA now sits at 2.66 with a strikeout rate of 10.2 per nine innings. He’s been absolutely filthy.

Missing the zone

His one downside is walks. He does average 3.5 walks per nine innings and has walked 4.4 per nine innings this year. It hasn’t been a huge problem for him because he doesn’t give up many hits and has a high strikeout rate – but it’s playing with fire.

Bottom line, Strop is a very solid reliever for the Cubs. Statistically, he’s been one of the most consistent relievers in all of baseball over the last five years. Every pitcher has bad outings and Strop has. Sometimes, those bad outings are highlighted more than the good ones.

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Strop’s been on a great stretch, but it’s been overlooked because of what Carl Edwards Jr., Wade Davis and Mike Montgomery have done in the bullpen. However, the Cubs would not have just won five-straight if it wasn’t for Pedro Strop. Give the man credit. Don’t jump ship when he has a bad outing.

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