Chicago Cubs: Greatest players of the decade – #30-21

Chicago Cubs: No. 22: Jose Quintana

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Jose Quintana is always going to be that guy the Chicago Cubs got when they got rid of Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease, both of whom (especially Jimenez) figure to be stars for the Chicago White Sox. Quintana hasn’t pitched as well as we hoped for when the Cubs made that trade in the middle of the 2017 season, but overall he’s been decent.

Quintana was actually pretty good down the stretch for the Cubs during the 2017 season. In 14 starts, he put up a 3.74 ERA while striking out 98 batters in 84 1/3 innings pitched. He had two solid outings for the Cubs in the playoffs that year, though he had one terrible one in Game 5 of the NLCS in which the Cubs were eliminated. In 2018, Quintana put up a 4.03 ERA in 32 starts, and in 2019 it was 4.68 in 32 games (31 starts). That’s not great, but it’s not terrible, and at least he’s been a guy who’s capable of taking the ball every fifth day.

Has Jose Quintana reached the end of the line for the Chicago Cubs? There’s debate as to whether the team should pick up his option for next season. Though Quintana hasn’t pitched up to expectations since joining the Cubs, he hasn’t been a total disaster, either. In fact, since he’s had some pretty good games over the years, he’s earned this spot on the list.