Chicago Cubs: Top 10 single-season pitching performances (Part II)

The modern day era of Chicago Cubs baseball has brought with it its fair share of ineffably strange and sometimes heartbreaking moments. Through it all, however, has emerged some of the greatest single-season pitching performances in team history.

Throughout the 2000s, the Chicago Cubs have been one of the most unpredictable franchises in baseball. From 2000-03, for instance, the club posted win totals of 65, 88, 67, 88, in that order. The 2003 season was one of the best in its regard, despite the disastrous finish. In 2008, the team won 97 games before seeing their win total decrease over the next four seasons.

Across the past four seasons, the team has become a juggernaut in both the National League and in Major League Baseball, recording win totals of 97, 103, 92, and 95, respectively. While each successful season is vivacious in its own right, breaking them down to profile individual performances is even better, namely starting pitching.

Naturally, the club has had many great pitchers work their way through the ranks to Wrigley; however, there are those performances that, still to this day, makes a fan turn their head to gawk at in amazement.

Chicago Cubs’ Jon Lieber: 2001

By the time Jon Lieber arrived on the Northside, he had compiled a respectable resume on the mound. The Cubs acquired him the offseason before the 1999 campaign when Lieber was just 28 years old. In exchange, they sent Brant Brown. The Cubs won undoubtedly won that trade.

The first two seasons in a Cubs uniform was a mixed bag for Lieber. He finished 22-22 with a 4.26 ERA across 66 starts while posting a slightly above-average 103 ERA+ and a strangely high 4.03 FIP. Nevertheless, Lieber rebounded the following season to post what would finish as the best season of his 14-year career.

Kicking off the 2001 season in style, Lieber charged hard to post six straight quality starts, posting a 4-2 clip with a 3.00 ERA in that span. Impressively, Lieber finished each of those starts at a minimum of seven innings. In half the starts, Lieber went eight innings. Lieber allowed just four total home runs, holding opposing hitters to a .206 batting average.

The best start of Lieber’s season came on May 24, where he blanked the Cincinnati Reds in a complete-game shutout. He allowed a single hit that afternoon and walked only one. Three months later, Lieber posted back-to-back complete-game victories, allowing a single walk between both games and striking out eight.

For Lieber, the 2001 season was unique in a couple of ways. First, he won 20 games. It would be the only time in his career he would reach that pinnacle. Second, Lieber earned an All-Star nod and finished fourth overall in National League Cy Young voting, behind only Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, and Matt Morris. Overall, Lieber was your middle of the road starting pitcher. However, the 2001 season will always stand out to both him and Cubs fans as one of the most fun.

Chicago Cubs’ Mark Prior: 2003

Not much can be said about the 2003 season on the Northside of Chicago. A season of many ups and certifiably, downs, without breaking the final result down to the unspoken singular moment, the bright spot was 22-year-old Mark Prior and the ridiculous season he had in a Cubs uniform.

In a starting rotation anchored by the likes of Kerry Wood, Matt Clement, and Shawn Estes, Prior led the rotation in a significant way. He started 30 games, finishing a whopping 18-6 with a video game level 2.43 ERA. Prior surpassed the 200-inning threshold as well, posting the second highest total behind just 22-year-old Carlos Zambrano.

Most impressively, Prior recorded a career-best 2.47 FIP while striking out 28.4% of the batters he faced. He finished his season with a 7.4 bWAR, good for fourth overall among pitchers and sixth overall among all players. Prior also finished as an All-Star, as well as third in National League Cy Young voting and top ten in MVP voting.

In his second game of the 2003 season, Prior pitched a complete-game shutout versus the Montreal Expos, allowing only four hits while recording 12 strikeouts. Two starts later, Prior again finished a complete-game, this time allowing just one run in a victory versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. In total, Prior finished 2003 with four complete games and a fifth game where he pitched into the ninth inning.

When it came time for the postseason, Prior did not let off the gas. In three postseason starts, Prior pitched 23 1/3 innings, compiling a ludicrous 2.31 ERA. Each of his starts saw Prior go at least seven innings while not allowing more than three runs. The first postseason start of Prior’s career finished with a complete game, where he allowed just one run and struck out seven.

A myriad of injuries would lamentably derail Prior’s career, as he lasted only three more seasons in the big leagues, officially retiring in 2013 after attempting to work his way back. In many ways, however, that 2003 season will live on in Cubs lore not for how it finished but through the magic Prior brought to the Windy City and how for one glorious season, he carried the team on his back.

Chicago Cubs’ Ryan Dempster: 2008

Another average starter throughout his career, Ryan Dempster put together a surprisingly strong 2008 campaign, leading him to be a part of this illustrious list. Dempster is a dark horse, no doubt. However, the season he put together turned out to be the best of his long career.

Throughout the 16 years, Dempster took the mound, he only earned an All-Star nod twice, once in 2000 and the other time in 2008. He finished the year 17-6 with a 2.96 ERA. Dempster set a career high in not only wins and ERA, but also ERA+ and FIP. It would be the only time Dempster would post an ERA+ over 150.

By the time Dempster arrived in Chicago, he had racked up some stops along the way, however never honestly found his footing until he joined the Cubs. Across his nine-year Cubs career, Dempster finished 67-66 with a 3.74 ERA. Never did he post an ERA under four with any of his other teams.

In his 33 starts Dempster made in 2008 two particular starts stand above the rest: his start on May 15 versus the San Diego Padres and June 11 versus the Atlanta Braves. The May 15 start saw Dempster pitch into the ninth inning, finishing with 8 1/3 innings of shutout baseball with a whopping 12 strikeouts.

In the June 11 game versus Atlanta, Dempster finished the complete game, allowing only two runs and recording 11 strikeouts. The eight-game stretch to include another scoreless eight-inning start, Dempster posted a 2.52 ERA, allowing opposing batters to hit .232 and allowing only six home runs.

By the end of the season, Dempster had posted 24 Quality Starts for the Cubs. The postseason, sadly, would be less forgiving to Dempster. He would make a single start, in Game 1 of the NLDS versus the Los Angeles Dodgers, pitching 4 2/3 innings, while allowing 4 ER, and a painful seven walks. Despite the lackadaisical finish to his season, it does not overshadow how impressive he indeed was for the city of Chicago, and that is why he finds himself on this list.

Chicago Cubs’ Jake Arrieta: 2015

The trade which started it all. Okay well, not exactly, but close. It was in 2013 that everything changed: the day Jake Arrieta became a member of the Chicago Cubs. A trade which will live in infamy. The first few years of Arrieta’s career in Chicago were solid. In his debut year for the Cubs, he started just nine games, posting a 3.66 ERA. Arrieta built on it the following season, posting an outstanding 2.53 ERA in 25 starts.

Then 2015 happened, and my goodness was it glorious. Not only did Arrieta see his number of starts increase, but he also posted the best season of his career to date. In a season filled with many ups, Arrieta stood strong finishing 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA en route to a much deserved National League Cy Young award. His season was so good that Arrieta finished sixth overall in the MVP race.

Arrieta did a great job in many categories. He finished with an excellent 2.35 FIP and 2.61 xFIP, respectively. Lastly, Arrieta finished with a 7.0 fWAR, which was second behind only Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw. To boot, in the 229 innings Arrieta pitched, he allowed just ten home runs.

While the strikeout rate was decent, it was nothing to write home about. The walk rate, however, ended up being a career low for Arrieta. He also held opposing hitters to a .184 clip, and a .246 BABIP.

Diving into Arrieta’s campaign, the most impressive aspect was his second half and how he was nearly unhittable. From July 12 to October 2, Arrieta made 16 starts. He posted the following line: 15-1, 0.77 ERA, three complete games, a .143 batting average against, two home runs allowed, and 122 strikeouts.

In his four total complete games, Arrieta allowed a single earned run in 36 innings, striking out 39 batters, walking two, and allowing nine hits. On August 30, Arrieta threw his best game of the year, completing a no-hitter versus the Los Angeles Dodgers on the road in grand fashion. It summed up how the season progressed for Arrieta.

After the Cubs clinched a berth in the Wild Card game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Arrieta received the call and did not let the Wrigley faithful down. He spun an absolute gem, twirling a complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts to send the Cubs onto the Division series. He earned a Game 3 win versus St. Louis in the NLDS before succumbing to misfortune against the New York Mets. By the end of it all, Arrieta had finished with a respectable 3.66 ERA.

No matter the fact that Arrieta is gone, he will always be a part of Chicago. He helped as a transformative piece, bring hope to a city void of a championship. And for that, the Windy City will always be grateful for Arrieta, and his 2015 season.