Chicago Cubs: Ranking this year’s most valuable pitchers

Despite how things played out, the Chicago Cubs got some strong performances from key pitchers this year – including one starter you might not think of.

The inconsistencies of the Chicago Cubs pitching staff, as a whole, dominated headlines throughout the 2019 season. Jon Lester started to show his age, Cole Hamels looked like a wildly different pitcher after returning from injury and in the bullpen, high-leverage woes ran rampant.

The bullpen will likely look wildly different in 2020 given the high number of players poised to hit free agency – including several key members of last year’s relief corps. Chicago heads into the winter with at least one void in the rotation, with Hamels hitting the open market, as well.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom when it came to Cubs pitchers this season. Several guys turned in solid campaigns and played integral roles in keeping the team in the playoff hunt right now to the final weeks of the season.

Let’s look at some of the most valuable pitchers for this year’s Chicago Cubs team using Fangraphs WAR – and break down what these four guys brought to the table this season and what they may offer as the team looks to get back on top in 2020.

Chicago Cubs: Wick emerges as a late-inning force down the stretch

Late in the year, a lot of people overlooked the success of the Chicago Cubs bullpen as Craig Kimbrel blew several critical saves that put the nail in the proverbial coffin.

If you look at the big picture, the pen performed pretty well. Cubs relievers allowed the fourth-fewest runs per game (4.43) among National League ball clubs and ranked fourth in the NL with a 4.10 earned run average. But when you break it down to high-leverage spots, things go sideways pretty quickly.

The Cubs turned in the sixth-lowest save percentage in the league. Kimbrel, as noted many, many times, struggled to find any sort of consistent rhythm after joining the team mid-season and left plenty to be desired. That being said, one of his bullpen mates, Rowan Wick, looked like a legitimate long-term asset.

Wick ranked second among Cubs relievers with a 0.7 WAR, according to Fangraphs. He struck out 25 percent of opposing hitters, blending his overpowering fastball with some devastating breaking pitches. Perhaps what stood out most, though, is the fact that he did not allow a home run in 31 appearances this season.

Under control for the better part of the next decade, Wick may very well be a stabilizing force for the next manager. He has a lot to learn, to be sure. But with the season on the line, this kid stepped up and delivered when it mattered – something a lot of Cubs hurlers can’t say.

Chicago Cubs: Kintzler goes from has-been to lights-out

When the Cubs went out and acquired Brandon Kintzler mid-season last year, he was supposed to bring a veteran presence to the bullpen and give Joe Maddon another option late in ballgames. Instead, he imploded and, by season’s end, was pretty much unusable in any kind of high-leverage spot.

After coming to Chicago, the right-hander made 25 appearances – pitching to a 2.000 WHIP, allowing 13.5 hits per nine and struggling mightily with command, evidenced by his 1.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Cubs promptly declined their $10 million team option for 2020, only to see the veteran opt in to his $5 million player option.

Thank goodness he did so.

Kintzler buried his 2018 struggles and became one of Maddon’s most trusted arms in 2019, racking up 62 appearances for the Cubs. He pitched to a sterling 2.68 ERA while striking out 7.6 strikeouts per nine – his best single-season mark since 2015.

At Wrigley Field, Kintzler was nails. In 30 1/3 innings of work, he turned in a 0.89 earned run average with a 6.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio. When he took the ball at home, you pretty much knew he was going to get the job done.

He’s one of several veterans poised to hit the open market this winter. He’ll turn 36 next summer, so it remains to be seen if the Cubs will bring him back again in 2020. But one thing’s for sure. Without his contributions, the 2019 campaign could have ended on a much lower note than it did with him.

Chicago Cubs: A late-season collapse blurs the numbers for Quintana

If you’re going off Fangraphs WAR, Jose Quintana ranked as the second-most valuable Chicago Cubs starting pitcher this season. That’s pretty hard to believe when you take a look at his high-level numbers.

The southpaw finished with the second-highest ERA among qualified National League starters (4.68) trailing only German Marquez of the Colorado Rockies (4.76) who calls hitter-friendly Coors Field home.

The 30-year-old made 31 starts – marking the seventh consecutive year in which he eclipsed the 30-start mark. But a horrendous run of starts in September erased all hopes of finishing the year with even remotely respectable numbers. Sure, he took the ball every five days, but he was pretty prone to clunkers that make it hard to evaluate his overall body of work.

In the season’s final month, Quintana pitched to an 11.09 ERA. Across those five starts, he failed to pitch into the sixth inning even once, with the Cubs losing three of those five games. He allowed at least four earned runs in each of his September outings.

Still, when you factor in the significant time Hamels missed, the down year from Lester and the dramatic first-to-second half splits from Darvish, Quintana was, arguably, one of the team’s most consistent arms. It’s just that everything went wrong when it mattered most – and that’s what we all remember.