Chicago Cubs: Giving the players their final letter grades

The Chicago Cubs turned in an incredibly frustrating year, but there were plenty of solid individual performances that were lost in the big picture.

The regular season has officially concluded, so we can finally put together our regular season letter grades. You know what happened, lets not talk about it. It was back a few months ago when grades were given out for the key players’ performances in the first half, so now the final report card can be completed for the 2019 Chicago Cubs.

Obviously some grades will look similar and some will look different. There will also be players added to the list who were acquired later and some taken off who were either traded away or were just not a key part of the team in the final several months (i.e. injuries or DFA). We will still stick to the key core of players and not ones who played a few weeks in a September callup or had a brief MLB stint.

As per usual these assessments will be given out using a typical A,B,C,D,F grading system. Same factors will be taken into account: overall statistics, situational performance, consistency, fulfilling their designated role on the team, etc.

Lastly, as always, these are up for debate so please comment and give your thoughts on the following grades.

Chicago Cubs: Infield produced some of the team’s best offense

Anthony Rizzo: A+

Rizzo was Rizzo, and that deserves a very good grade. Even with the power outage he had for a chunk of the season, he still hit 27 homers with a .293/.405/.520 slash and a 137 OPS+. Coming back on one ankle and hitting like he did in the season’s final week earned him the plus.

Kris Bryant: A-

Overall the former NL MVP had a very good season. It’s hard to complain about a .282/.382/.521 slash. He came up big in several wins, but also gets a minus because there was some significant streakiness. Numbers-wise, good stuff sporting a 4.9 fWAR in 147 games.

Javier Baez: B+

Hard to imagine grading El Mago lower than an A, but the second half of his season was plagued with injuries and inconsistent play. Still, he finished with 29 homers, an .848 OPS and 113 OPS+. It was an overall good season for him, but we did not see quite as much magic as we saw in 2018.

Willson Contreras: A

He bounced back from that horrific second-half in 2018 and put up  a 24-homer season with a .272/.355/.533 slash – which was great to see. Unfortunately, he had the hammy issue in August.

Victor Caratini: A

Probably the least talked about nice surprise of 2019. Caratini found a much more consistent bat both in terms of ability to get on base and hit for some pop. His work behind the plate also got noticeably better and really seemed to work well with the pitching staff. Those homers off Jacob DeGrom? Legendary.

David Bote: C

His weaknesses have been exploited by MLB pitchers and the defense took a step back. Bote still did have some nice stretches, but it is pretty clear he is a bench piece. A solid bench piece, but a bench piece no less.

Addison Russell: F

Adios.

Daniel Descalso: F

It is too bad that Descalso fell SO hard. His April at the plate was very productive at .263/.349/.408, but the rest of the way…yikes. The ankle injury seemed to be his downfall.

Ben Zobrist: B?

Again, the situation was very odd and he missed most of the season due to personal reasons. Give the man credit for hitting very well when coming back. Sadly the defense was very sloppy and costly down the stretch. No hard feelings toward Zobrist.

Tony Kemp: D+

Great dude, played some good defense and seemed like an ideal teammate to have. Just did not produce with the bat where he was really needed.

Nico Hoerner: Incomplete

Had to at least mention their most talked about prospect. Showed some very nice promise.

Chicago Cubs: It was kind of a roller coaster in the outfield this year.

Kyle Schwarber: B+

Give this man some credit, he went on a tear in the final months of the season. In the second half alone he slashed .280/.366/.631 with 20 homers, 151 wRC+ and .997 OPS. Finishing just a few homers shy of 40, we got the glimpses of the Schwarber we expected in 2015 and beyond.

Jason Heyward: B

Despite the horrific slump when he was slotted into the leadoff spot mid-season, J-Hey had his most productive year as a Cub. Eclipsing 20 homers for only the second him in his career, we saw multiple stretches of the Heyward that played in Atlanta and St. Louis. Defense still Gold Glove caliber.

Nicholas Castellanos: A+

One of the best in-season acquisitions the Cubs have ever had. 16 homers, 21 doubles and 1.002 OPS in 51 games as a Cub is pretty dang good. The man was a spark of great energy and was key in a number of victories. It is a shame his heroics were all for naught. Cannot say enough about him.

Albert Almora: F

He is probably the most disappointing position player on the team this season. The bat was well below average and even his defense regressed a bit. A very likable guy but this was a rough season. The robbery of Yadier Molina was awesome…as was scoring the go-ahead run in 2016.

Ian Happ: C+/B-

Kind of a hard one to tackle. Happ finished the season very strong and put up a respectable .264/.333/.564 slash in 58 games. Give him credit, but it kind of feels like he got hot when the games did not matter.

Chicago Cubs: This has brought a lot of nightmares to Cubs fans…

Craig Kimbrel: D

Those last few appearances basically put the Cubs on ice. Woof. The numbers are pretty ugly. We did eventually see flashes of the old Kimbrel, but the injuries piled up. Lets see how he responds with a normal offseason, I refuse to give up on a generational reliever.

Pedro Strop: D

Really hurt to see one of the most consistently good relievers the Cubs ever had take a huge dive. Hamstring issues and age really caught up to him. Still, nothing can take away what he has done for this organization.

Steve Cishek: C

Started off like his normal self then fell apart toward the end of the year. A lot of innings on that arm the past two years, he could be another guy who is simply past his best days.

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Kyle Ryan: B

For most of the season he was pretty dang efficient. He then ran into major struggles toward the end of the season. The walks got to be an issue (4.3 BB/9) but the 3.54 ERA was overall solid.

Brandon Kintzler: A

Fact is he was the best and most consistent reliever on the team in 2019. 2.68 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 1.035 WHIP and 54.7 percent groundball rate in 57 innings. Dude got it done.

Tyler Chatwood: B-

Hey, he came up pretty big coming into relief spots this year. Got a lot of swings and misses and saw the fastball sizzle in the upper-90s. Take what you can get from him at this point.

Rowan Wick: A

An incredibly nice surprise. 2.43 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 9.5 K/9 in 33.1 innings. Lets see if he is the real deal moving forward.

Alec Mills: A

This kid has some promise and has made the most of his MLB time so far.

Derek Holland: F

The experiment did not work, which probably did not surprise a lot of fans. Holland has had a number of solid seasons as a big leaguer, but this was not one of them.

There could be a few other guys that could have made this list, but there is only so much room and these are the players who were really part of the team in the final months. A number of good grades, but too many bad/mediocre ones. Not enough good grades to make the postseason.