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

Chicago Cubs: Kent Mercker – 2004

Another former Atlanta Braves pitcher, Kent Mercker had one of the better seasons for the Cubs–but was only here for one season. Mercker was 36 when he came to the Cubs, and not a lot was expected from him. Mercker faced left and right batters almost equally and was stingier against righties (.161 BAA to .247 for RHB.)

He appeared in 71 games but pitched just 53 innings. If you saw that, you would assume situational lefty, but he was not. He faced righties 113 times, lefties 110. His S0/W ratio was one of the worst in the bullpen at 1.89, but his ERA+ was 174, the best on the staff that season.

Mercker was another that didn’t gain any accolades throughout his career. No All-Star games, no Cy Young votes. And he began his career as a starter. But by the time he got to the Cubs, he was strictly a reliever, and a pretty good one, at that. He pitched until he was 40, pitching for nine teams when all was said and done.