Chicago Cubs: Grading the players on their first half performances

With the first half of the Chicago Cubs season in the books, there is plenty to evaluate on a team that has been both good and incredibly frustrating.

The first half of the 2019 season came to an end on the South Side this past Sunday as the Chicago Cubs lost to the crosstown White Sox 3-1, finishing their final two-game series with a one-one split. Bad news? They fell to 47-43. Good news? They are in first place entering the All-Star break.

One word to describe the first half could certainly be “frustrating.” Being only four games above .500 after an incredibly mediocre run the past month and a half has prevented the Cubs of taking advantage of a struggling NL Central. A few more wins, and they have a healthy lead. Sadly it has been a festival of mediocrity in the division, and hopes of a second-half surge will be the story going into this weekend.

So how about the key players themselves? How have they held up so far this season? Let’s take a look at some grades given to said key players. Note guys like Craig Kimbrel, Adbert Alzolay, Robel Garcia, Taylor Davis or Jim Adduci who have barely played will not be included. Also, these grades will be letter-based (A, B, C, D, F).

Chicago Cubs: It is fair to say the most productive players in terms of the offense have come from the infield.

Anthony Rizzo: A

Hard to complain too much about the face of the team outside for the fact he has been streaky, which, is usually how it goes. He is slashing .272/.384/.519 with 19 homers, a 135 wRC+ and 58 RBI. So nothing new to see, he is just putting up typical Tony numbers.

Kris Bryant: A-

Ok, so let’s get to the “minus” part real quick. We know the troubles with him hitting with runners on, it simply needs to be better. HOWEVER, the guy is still putting up fantastic numbers.

Slashing .297/.403/.552 with 17 homers, a 148 wRC+ and an OPS of .955 shows how dang good this guy is. He fully deserved the All-Star nod this year. He is already at a 3.7 fWAR on the year. Look for a big second half from him.

Javier Baez: A

One could argue Javy’s .289/.324/.556 slash would look even better if he did not have that ankle issue a month back. It’s probably true. Javy boasts a 3.4 fWAR, 123 wRC+, and 22 homers in 88 games to go along with that slash. Once again Javy has come up with some big game-winning hits and set up some big innings. He can surpass 100 RBI again this season and maybe reach 35+ homers.

Willson Contreras: A+

The lone A+ grade this team gets belongs to their All-Star catcher. Contreras slashing .286/.381/.556 with a .937 OPS, 141 wRC+, 18 homers .388 wOBA is a massive turnaround from last season’s second-half disaster. He has already surpassed his 2018 homer total from last season by eight and is on pace to put up career numbers. His 2.4 fWAR already ties his 2017 season total.

Victor Caratini: B+

Got to give this guy credit, he has broken out offensively with a .295/.367/.511 slash with four homers and 16 RBI in 34 games. He also has been very solid behind the plate and has been trusted, making more starts to help keep Contreras fresh.

David Bote: B-

It has been very up and down in Bote’s second season as a Cub. He has surpassed his home run total (9) and RBI total (35) from last season in 79 games. He is currently hitting .251/.336/.434, which is not bad, not great. His weakness with high-heat has been exposed, and pitchers have figured that out. He may need some adjusting in the second half.

Daniel Descalso: F

He’s batting .113/.226/.138 since May 1st. Woof. We know he is better than this, but will he bounce back in the second half?

Addison Russell: D

Slashing .244/.319/.402 with five homers in 46 games looks pretty “meh” not good but not terrible. Tie in the off-field issues and record with him in the starting lineup, and you get graded a bit more harshly. His defense overall has been pretty good, but that is the best he has offered.

Ben Zobrist: Incomplete

Hard to grade him, but he is worth mentioning. Even in his older age, his presence on the field and in the clubhouse is missed greatly.

Chicago Cubs: Lack of consistent outfield production has been frustrating for fans.

Kyle Schwarber: B-

The big slugging left fielder has not reached his potential. 18 homers, .457 slugging and 43 RBIs has helped the offense during stretches, but overall a .227/.320 average and OBP is not what we wanted. Fans thought this could be the year of .360+ OBP and 40+ homers from Schwarber. Not looking like the case. This may be who he is. 98 wRC+? Shrug.

Jason Heyward: B

This has been a nice story. Heyward’s .266/.355/.457 and 110 wRC+ has been a welcomed part of the offense so far. His 14 homers already surpass any total he had as a Cub, and his .457 slugging is much higher than the .367 he totaled in his first three seasons in Chicago. Is it $184 million good? No, but considering what he was the previous three years this we will gladly take.

Albert Almora: C-

It seems more and more obvious Almora Jr. is a platoon/defensive replacement outfielder. His glove in center is excellent, but the hitting has not been. A .250/.286/.399 line with eight homers and a 75 wRC+ is not exactly what was hoped from him. The 55.7% groundball rate has been a big problem for him. At least he is on pace to hit double-digit homers.

Carlos Gonzalez: F

Great guy and had an outstanding career, but the tank was empty. He will be a fun Cubs trivia question down the road.

Mark Zagunis: Incomplete

He played enough to be mentioned, but he is probably a Triple-A player in this organization and hard to grade a guy that did not get much playing time after being called up.

Chicago Cubs: Overall the rotation has been pretty good with a few kinks in the road.

Jon Lester: B

There have been magnificent and awful stretches from Lester this year. Overall a 3.72 ERA, 1.3 WHIP, 4.16 FIP, 8.9 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 94 1/3 innings. He is missing more bats than last year, which is notable. Overall these are alright numbers to expect from Lester at this point in his career.

Cole Hamels: A

No doubt the best starter on the staff so far. Hamels leads the team in ERA (2.98) and is posting a 3.57 FIP, 1.2 WHIP and 97 strikeouts in 17 starts. Just pray his injury is not overly serious.

Kyle Hendricks: A-

Had a slow start but overall has a 3.49 ERA, 3.51 FIP, 1.18 WHIP and a 1.8 BB/9 in 16 starts. The Professor has been merely doing his thing and making the extension worth it so far, not much else to say.

Yu Darvish: D+/C-

Alright, I know the numbers (5.01 ERA, 5.29 FIP, 4.5 BB/9) should give this an F grade. However, the stuff looks excellent, and he has had some excellent starts on the road along with some bad ones at Wrigley. He needs to control the walks (which have improved) and the home runs given up at home. No more excuses in the second half though.

Jose Quintana: B-

Despite some average-looking numbers which include a 4.19 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in 101 innings, Quintana has been more good than bad. Like last year, a few bad outings have ballooned his numbers. He has had three starts out of 18 appearances which he has given up five or eight runs. The rest of the 15 have been three runs or less. He still needs to generate more swings-and-misses and pitch well down the stretch.