Chicago Cubs: All-Time best lefties out of the bullpen

Chicago Cubs: So what are the parameters?

So I had to decide who I was going to look at. I decided on the entire history of the Cubs, a minimum of 30 games pitched (only for the Cubs,) and at least 95 percent of their appearances as a reliever. I’m interested more in relievers, not spot starters like Travis Wood and Sean Marshall were. The roles they had varied, but at 95 percent, the results will give us more relief roles.

Speaking in terms of ERA, in the entire history of the Cubs with those parameters, only four pitchers have had a sub-3.00 ERA. And of the top 40 in ERA, only six pitched with the Cubs more than three years. In many cases, it was just a one or two-year stint.

And now with the coming rule change next season that a pitcher has to face three batters unless the inning ends before they face three? A lot of lefties are going to be out of work. It’s hard to find quality lefties as it is. This rule change is going to change the game–and strategy–of managers.

With all this said, I tried to find some of the more successful lefties in Cubs’ history. These are not ranked, because I’d have a hard time not finding a closer more critical than a situational lefty. But these are my top-five lefties in Cubs history. Enjoy!