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Chicago Cubs: What kind of role could Tyler Chatwood play next season?
Last winter Theo Epstein brought in Tyler Chatwood to replace John Lackey as the Chicago Cubs fifth starter. That plan clearly backfired seeing as Chatwood was removed from the starting rotation due to his awful performance.
Heading into the 2019 season, the Chicago Cubs five-man starting rotation is set and ready to go. Behind Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana, Yu Darvish and Cole Hamels the Cubs have one of the most formidable starting rotations in the National League, if not all of baseball.
On top of an already strong rotation, Mike Montgomery will return to his role as the Cubs swingman or sixth starter after making 19 starts in 2018. Montgomery made his move from the bullpen to the starting rotation last season due to the Darvish injury and Tyler Chatwood’s struggles. This will add some much-needed depth and stability, in case of any injuries.
So with six potential starters, where does Chatwood fit into the equation? Well, the honest answer is he probably doesn’t. If those six guys pitch to the level they are capable of and are able to stay relatively healthy, Chatwood may just not have a spot with this Cubs team – despite having two years left on his contract.
Chicago Cubs: There is no room for Chatwood in the starting rotation
To put it frankly, Chatwood was horrendous in his first season with the Cubs. As a starter, he posted a 5.16 ERA, his highest since 2012. He ended up pitching just 96 total innings in 20 starts before being removed from the starting rotation.
His Achilles heel all was actually, well, himself. He never really got hit all that hard, his main problem was throwing the ball over the plate. In 11 of his 20 starts last season, Chatwood ended up walking five or more batters. He ended up posting an 8.35 BB/9 ratio while walking 88 batters.
Chatwood’s 88 walks as a starter are only two less than Lucas Giiolito’s 90 walks, which led the majors. Oh yeah, Chatwood also pitched 77 innings less than Giolito did. Among other Cubs starters, Quintana walked 68 batters on the year which was second-most behind Chatwood.
Chicago Cubs: Chatwood wasn’t a good fit in the bullpen either
Finally, in late July the Cubs pulled the plug on the Chatwood experiment and removed him from the starting rotation. The final straw for him was walking six batters in back-to-back games.
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With nearly $38 million invested in over three seasons, the Cubs couldn’t just let him walk, so they gave him a chance in the bullpen. Let’s just say that didn’t exactly work out either. Chatwood made just four appearances in relief, accumulating 7 2/3 innings. He surrendered six runs and his ERA skyrocketed to 7.04 over the course of his stint in the bullpen.
In the bullpen, he was hardly any different as he still struggled with his command. He walked seven batters, coming out to 8.22 walks per nine. Although it was a short sample size, that was the highest ratio among all Cubs relievers in 2018.
Based on all of last year’s struggles and how deep the Cubs starting rotation looks this time around, Chatwood’s role for this season looks to be very uncertain. With a deep starting five, the only chance for Chatwood to start would be if someone got hurt. It’s also clear that the bullpen is not a good fit for him based on his struggles last season.
Ultimately Chatwood will have to be patient as he will certainly have limited opportunities to prove himself, again barring any major injuries to the Cubs’ big five.
Next. The team could win the winter and keep its core intact. dark
Of course, if the Cubs don’t have any use for or faith in Chatwood they could always try to deal him to another team. The issue here though is his contract and some teams may look at him as nothing more than a project after his debacle last season. Whatever they decide, it will be interesting to see what they do with Chatwood next season.