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Chicago Cubs: A jack-of-all-trades on the mound
My second-favorite Cubs player in those days had to be Ryan Dempster. I do not remember much from Dempster’s days as the closer for Chicago, but I loved him as a starting pitcher. Glove-waggle and all, Ryan Dempster was to the 2008-2010 Cubs what Jon Lester was to the 2016 Cubs.
Over that three-year span, Dempster started 98 games, winning 43 of them. In addition to that, he amassed a 3.49 ERA and averaged 207 innings pitched per season. Of those three years, 2008 was Dempster’s best season. At age 31, Dempster notched 17 wins and 2.96 earned run average.
Along with that, the right-hander racked up 206 2/3 innings pitched and recorded an ERA+ of 154. For his efforts, Dempster was voted into the All-Star Game and finished sixth in the Cy Young voting.