Chicago Cubs: An in-depth look at Steve Cishek’s body of work

With their latest offseason acquisition, the Chicago Cubs picked up a valuable bullpen weapon in side-arming right-hander Steve Cishek.

This week’s Winter Meetings in Orlando have been near-dead silent. That being said, the Chicago Cubs made several impactful moves, adding multiple pitchers, including Drew Smyly, Brandon Morrow and, most recently, right-hander Steve Cishek.

Morrow seems likely to be the closer-in-waiting, but the winter is young and, with Joe Maddon at the helm, the logical move isn’t always the one made. Cishek has experience in the ninth, racking up 121 saves during his big-league career. That experience may prove to be a difference-maker come Spring Training.

The former Miami Marlins closer continued to impress in 2017 between the Mariners and Rays. He put up a 2.01 earned run average in 49 games. He clearly benefited from the defense behind him based on a 3.34 FIP – but he’s been a remarkably consistent arm for some time.

So, now that we have a little bit of knowledge on what he’s bringing to the table, let’s dive in.

Former Marlins fifth-round pick

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Just over 10 years ago, the then-Florida Marlins picked up Cishek in the fifth round of the June draft. Three years later, he joined the big-league club. In 2011, his first full big-league season, he dropped jaws around the league.

As a 25-year-old rookie, Cishek made 45 appearances with a 2.46 FIP and 149 ERA+. Over the next three seasons in Miami, the righty was the epitome of consistency, riding solid strikeout numbers to a 143 ERA+ and 2.63 FIP. That impressive rookie campaign was no fluke and he’s proven that time and time again over the years.

Fast forward to 2016, when he joined the Seattle Mariners as the club’s closer. He went on to close out 40 games, picking up 25 saves for the M’s, putting up the best strikeout-to-walk ratio mark of his career (3.62).  Last year, Seattle flipped Cishek to the Tampa Bay Rays at the deadline and things only got better for the right-hander.

He made 26 appearances for Tampa, putting up a 1.09 ERA. Cishek averaged 9.5 strikeouts per nine, while cutting down his walk rate in a big way. Continuing this trend will be a big part of success on the North Side. So let’s break down how he got his outs in 2017.

So how does he get his outs?

Steve Cishek excels in inducing ground balls. The right-hander recorded a 56.1 percent groundball rate in 2017, with just a 26.3 percent fly ball rate. He also cut down his career average hard-hit percentage, as well. Over eight seasons, he has allowed 27.5 percent hard-hit contact. Last year, however, he cut that mark down to 23.3 percent – a promising sign for the late-inning reliever.

As far as his repertoire, Cishek works with three pitches (more or less). He features a sinker, slider and a straight heater than sits in the low 90s. His unique arm slot allows his slider to really bear down on left-handed hitters, jamming them in on their hands. I can’t help but appreciate this new look Cishek brings to the Cubs’ pen.

His arm angle can create problems for opposing hitters, making it difficult to initially pick up the pitch out of his hand. With so many of the Chicago relievers coming over the top in a more traditional sense, Cishek is a perfect addition to the crew. And, at two years somewhere in the $12 to $14 million range, he’s a bargain to boot.

Next: Cubs have options to close outside of resigning Davis

After losing Wade Davis, Koji Uehara, Brian Duensing and Hector Rondon, the Cubs needed several arms. Cishek, along with Morrow, shores things up in the late innings. But don’t be surprised to see Theo add one more proven performer before the winter is over. Bullpens, at least of-late, seem to win championships. And that’s what this is all about.