Chicago Cubs: A Hickey is always better than lukewarm Chili

While much of the focus of late centered around the Chicago Cubs’ dismissal of Chili Davis, his pitching counterpart, Jim Hickey, deserves plenty of praise.

Pitching guru Jim Hickey was brought in to replace a guy who was, at least, partially responsible for one of the best Chicago Cubs pitching performances over an entire season (2016) in team history. Tall order.

Chicago brought him in to replace a guy credited with turning a mediocre pitcher (Jake Arrieta) with some potential into a Cy Young winner who just happened to have one of the best individual pitching performances ever in 2015.  Again, yikes.

Another big factor in Hickey’s ascension to pitching coach on the North Side? The fact that he is, and has been, a close confidant and advisor to Cubs skipper Joe Maddon.

The guy he replaced happened to be Chris Bosio. And, love him or hate him, he got results. Bosio worked with guys like Jeff Samardzija, Scott Feldman, Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks, Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon. Although not all of them took the field for the Cubs in 2016, all, in one way or another, played a role in the team’s World Series championship.

The point is Bosio did some fine work, and from all accounts, was pretty well respected amongst his pitching unit. His group put together some quality years and saw a ton of progression between 2012 to 2017.

However, one person he obviously didn’t have in his corner? Maddon. Whether there was friction between Bosio (who is reportedly no stranger to troubling comments, whether they’re about guys taking PEDs or using slurs in the clubhouse) or whether the skipper just wanted to bring in “his guy” in Hickey will never be completely known to outside parties, but it sure seems like a little of both.

Chicago Cubs: Second-half turnaround bodes well for Hickey

While Cubs fans may have been unhappy with this swap as recently as June or July, the job the pitchers did in the second half more than justifies bringing Hickey in last offseason.

The 57-year-old Chicago native appears to be the golden child amongst the team’s coaching hires from the past year. With the aforementioned (and recently ousted) Chili Davis’ offense struggling to hit for power, most of the headlines focused on the bats’ shortcomings.

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Hickey also looks shiny and pristine after Bosio was unceremoniously fired from his new position after reportedly making insensitive comments toward a Tigers employee in June. Not to mention the fact Hickey lost 40 percent of his high-priced starting rotation and still got improved production down the stretch.

Yu Darvish and Tyler Chatwood, the team’s two big ticket free agent signings Hickey was saddled with in his first year, basically gave the team nothing in the for the majority of the season. Darvish didn’t make a start after May 20. Chatwood, well, he was relentlessly ineffective before being shut down for the season himself.

Even with a depleted starting rotation, and a bullpen that lost Brandon Morrow, Brian Duensing, Carl Edwards Jr. and Pedro Strop at various points to injuries and key swingman, Mike Montgomery, to the rotation, the pitching didn’t just hold serve, they carried the team in August and September.

Chicago Cubs: Noted improvements from the staff

For the season, the Cubs finished with the third-lowest earned run average in the game, fourth-best HR per 9 innings (a considerable feat considering they pitch half their games at the Friendly Confines) and the fourth-best ground ball percentage, all while leading the league in total innings pitched.

While the staff did not strike out as many hitters as we did in 2017, the group pitched better overall, dropping an unsightly 3.95 staff ERA in 2017 down to 3.65 in 2018. Keep in mind, Chatwood and Darvish combined for an earned run average north of 5.00. Without those two factored in, we’d be talking about a number eerily similar to the 3.15 or 3.36 the club put up in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Of particular note, however, is the fact Cubs pitchers did not get better at walking hitters; this could be considered a red flag, except for the fact that Chatwood guy led the league in walks while only pitching 103 innings.

Amazingly, the Cubs’ record in the second half was 37-13 when they scored two or more runs.  Yes; a .740 winning percentage when they managed to squeak out just two tallies.  They even managed to split a noteworthy series in Pittsburgh in August in which they scored just one run (on solo blasts) in four straight games thanks to outstanding pitching.

That just goes to show Hickey was not the problem down the stretch; nor were his pitchers.  If he can continue to work with some of the young Triple-A bullpen shuttle type-guys and is given healthy, quality starters on the mound, he could look to improve upon a very good 2018 with an even better 2019.  And, of course, giving them some runs might actually help their cause.

If Hickey really wants to impress Cubs fans in his sophomore campaign, he can find the magic elixir for keeping Yu Darvish healthy and Tyler Chatwood throwing strikes; if he’s able to turn those things around, the pitching might even be able to live up to the hype created prior to the 2018 season.