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

Chicago Cubs: Paul Assenmacher – 1989 to 1993

The Cubs liked to try an take advantage of the Atlanta Braves pitching cast-off’s. At that time, Atlanta was churning out solid pitching, and the Cubs signed several ex-Braves with varying amounts of success. But Paul Assenmacher was one of the best, not just in Chicago, but everywhere he went. And this was still in an era where situational lefties were not typical. In his career, he faced right-handed batters roughly 60 percent more of the time.

Assenmacher spent 14 years in the league, five of them with the Cubs. He carried a 3.42 ERA in his time in Chicago and a 3.53 over his career. He did close some games when the regular closer was down or injured, saving 33 with the Cubs. He also had 29 blown saves. So this wasn’t really his forte. Assenmacher was middle-relief and did it well.

He spent five years in Chicago, but in his first and last year with the Cubs, he was i. To the Cubs from Atlanta in 1989, and from the Cubs to the Yankees in 1993. In these three middle years, he was a constant out of the pen, appearing in 74, 75 and 70 games from 1990-1992.

Assenmacher was never an All-Star, never a Cy Young candidate, but was a constant in games played for several years, finishing 31st in career games played by a pitcher. A pitcher like his wouldn’t be a bad idea for the current Cubs.