Chicago Cubs: The Cubs would be wise to bring back Justin Wilson

The Chicago Cubs have a number of questions concerning their bullpen this offseason, including what to do with free agent left-hander Justin Wilson.

Ahead of the 2017 non-waiver trade deadline, the Chicago Cubs made a move to acquire left-handed reliever Justin Wilson from the Detroit Tigers. Amidst a pennant race, the Cubs believed Wilson was the missing piece that could put their bullpen over the top. Chicago had good reason to believe they found their guy based on how Wilson was performing.

As a Tiger in the first half of the season, Wilson had served as the team’s primary closer, saving 13 games in 15 attempts. Wilson, one of the top arms available at the trade deadline, posted a 2.68 ERA and 55 strikeouts to go against just 16 walks. His 12.3 K/9 over that span was the highest of his career and miles ahead of his career-average of just 9.9.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, that kind of performance did not carry over for Wilson on the North Side. Following the midseason trade, Wilson appeared in 23 games out of the bullpen, totaling just 17 2/3 innings. His ERA skyrocketed to 5.09 and he walked 19 hitters while striking out just 25.

By the time the postseason arrived, Wilson found himself in Joe Maddon’s doghouse. The lefty made just one appearance in the postseason, pitching two-thirds of an inning in the NLDS against the Washington Nationals. When the NLCS rolled, around Wilson wasn’t even on the playoff roster, replaced by former Cubs closer Hector Rondon.

With all that said, Wilson really bounced back in 2018 to become one of the more reliable arms in the Cubs bullpen. On the year, he appeared in 71 games and pitched 54 2/3 innings. Wilson put up a solid 3.46 ERA, the best among the Cubs left-handed relievers.

He also posted the second-most strikeouts with 69 to go along with an 11.4 K/9 mark. However, as it had been in the past Wilson’s downfall was his walks. He led the Cubs with 33 walks and had a 5.4 BB/9 ratio.

Chicago Cubs: The ideal guy to take down lefties

Where Wilson really shined for the Cubs this season was in his matchups against left-handed batters. He was the Cubs’ best option, hands down, and, thus became their go-to guy. Against lefty hitters, he amassed 22 1/3 innings, facing 93 batters.

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Against these hitters, Wilson allowed a 1.61 ERA, surrendering a .188 opponent batting average. At times he dominated against lefties, striking out 32 batters on his way to a team-high 12.9 K/9 ratio. While he was dominant, there were times he lost his control, allowing 13 free passes to go along with a team-leading 5.2 walks per nine.

The Cubs didn’t have a whole lot of options throughout the season when it came to lefty versus lefty, which is why Wilson was called on so often. Brian Duensing was injured and wasn’t nearly the same pitcher he was in 2017.

Randy Rosario became a pleasant surprise throughout the season but didn’t dominate left-handers by any means. He faced 79 lefties, walked 10 batters and struck out 18, which accounted for a 1.8 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Both Jorge De La Rosa and Jaime Garcia became great tools for the Cubs down the stretch against left-handed batters. Neither of them allowed a run or a walk in lefty-lefty matchups in their 9 2/3 combined innings pitched. De La Rosa was much more dominant of the two, striking out six batters while Garcia failed to tally a single punch out.