Chicago Cubs: Remembering the worst performances of the decade

The Chicago Cubs had some great single-season performances in the 2010s, yet they also had some bad ones. Here we look at ten of the worst.

The Chicago Cubs had some great single-season performances in the 2010s. We would expect that from a team that made the playoffs four times and won a World Series championship in 2016. Indeed, we highlighted some of those performances in a previous column.

We’ll remember all the good ones for many years to come. There was Jake Arrieta, who was unhittable down the stretch in 2015 as he led the Chicago Cubs’ rotation on their way to the playoffs and the National League Championship Series.

We’ll remember Kris Bryant‘s MVP season for the 2016 champions, as well as those great performances all season long by starting pitchers Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks (though neither one of them would win the NL Cy Young Award). There was also Javier Baez finishing second in NL MVP voting in 2018.

Yet, as we would expect from any team, there were also some poor performances throughout the decade. In considering ten to highlight here, I tried to pick players who we expected to be solid contributors, or who had been in the past, who struggled for whatever reason for at least one year. There were some poor performances on both the good and the bad Cubs teams of the 2010s.

Below, I have listed ten poor performances, not in order necessarily from “best” to worst, but in chronological order. There’s a good mix of hitters, starting pitchers, and relief pitchers. With that, let’s take a look at ten performances that we’d like to forget once the decade is over.

Chicago Cubs: Ian Stewart in 2012

As the Chicago Cubs began their rebuild under Theo Epstein after the 2011 season, they decided not to bring back long-time third baseman Aramis Ramirez. Hoping to find a cheap alternative, the Cubs traded for Ian Stewart from the Colorado Rockies in the Tyler Colvin trade mentioned above. Stewart wasn’t good with the Rockies in 2011 but had a few decent seasons before then.

Well, Stewart’s time with the Cubs was a disaster. In 55 games in 2012, the left-handed hitter batted just .201 with five home runs before missing much of the season due to injury. The Cubs re-signed him for 2013, but as he was in the minors he was critical of the team on social media. He was eventually released and briefly played for the Los Angeles Angels in 2014.

Chicago Cubs: Chris Volstad in 2012

As mentioned above, the Chicago Cubs were in full rebuild mode in 2012 and were mainly just looking for bodies who could fill the major league roster. To that end, the Cubs traded Carlos Zambrano to the Miami Marlins prior to the 2012 season and in return received right-hander Chris Volstad, who had a few decent seasons with the Marlins.

From 2009 to 2011, Volstad pitched 499 2/3 innings in 88 starts, putting up a respectable 4.88 ERA. There was reason to believe he could at least give them some quality innings in 2012, but it ended up being the worst season of his career to that point: Volstad’s ERA swelled up to 6.31 in 21 starts.

Volstad has since been in and out of the majors, bouncing around to a few different teams and last appearing in the majors with the Chicago White Sox in 2018.

Chicago Cubs: Carlos Marmol in 2013

Carlos Marmol burst onto the scene out of the Chicago Cubs’ bullpen in 2007, putting up a ridiculous 1.43 ERA, and he made the National League All-Star team the next year. He would eventually become the team’s closer and earned 107 saves between 2019 and 2012. Marmol had a knack for getting into jams of his own making, particularly due to walks, but was often able to get out of them.

The right-hander’s luck had run out by 2013. The season started off badly, as he allowed runs in each of his first three outings, and Kevin Gregg would eventually become the closer. Marmol’s ERA with the Cubs in 2013 was 5.86 in 31 appearances, as Marmol became a lightning rod for the team’s struggles on the field. The Cubs would trade Marmol to the Los Angeles Dodgers during the season, and he was actually decent for LA down the stretch. Marmol last appeared in the majors with the Miami Marlins in 2014.

Chicago Cubs: Edwin Jackson in 2014

Hoping to take a step forward in their rebuilding process, the Chicago Cubs signed free agent starting pitcher Edwin Jackson to a four-year deal prior to the 2013 season. To this day, Cubs fans still regard it to be one of the worst moves of the Theo Epstein era.

2013 wasn’t a total disaster, as Jackson posted a 4.98 ERA, but he did lead the league in losses with 18 pitching for a bad team. 2014, however, was yet another story, as the right-hander’s ERA ballooned to 6.33 in 28 outings (27 starts). A lot of fans forget that Jackson was actually decent in relief for part of the 2015 season before moving on to the Atlanta Braves.

Somehow, Jackson continues to find major league work, splitting time between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Detroit Tigers in 2019.

Chicago Cubs: Brett Anderson in 2017

The Chicago Cubs were in need of a fifth starter to replace Jason Hammel for the 2017 season. They eventually traded for Jose Quintana during the season, but before that, they took a flyer on southpaw Brett Anderson. It did not go well.

Anderson’s best season prior to 2017 was in 2015, when he made 31 starts with the Los Angeles Dodgers. That year, he posted a 3.69 ERA, but 2016 was a struggle for him. Those struggles continued with the Cubs in 2017, when Anderson made six starts and posted an 8.18 ERA. In his last outing with the Cubs, on May 6 against the New York Yankees, he allowed five runs and only recorded one out.

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The left-hander then went to the disabled list, and the Cubs released him in July. After signing with the Toronto Blue Jays, Anderson was critical of the Cubs on Twitter.

For whatever struggles that Anderson had in Chicago and throughout his career, he suddenly found it with the Oakland Athletics in 2019, making 31 starts and putting up a 3.89 ERA while making just $1.5 million.

Chicago Cubs: Brian Duensing in 2018

Brian Duensing had a long track record as a relief pitcher with the Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles prior to signing with the Cubs before the 2017 season. It was a signing that didn’t get a lot of attention, but Duensing had one of the best years of his career in 2017, posting a 2.74 ERA in 62 1/3 innings.

How quickly things changed. Duensing allowed just one earned run in his first 23 outings in 2018, but then suddenly things unraveled in a hurry. Starting on May 29, over his next 25 games, spanning 21 innings of work, he allowed 31 earned runs, including 18 walks and six home runs allowed. Duensing did not pitch in the majors in 2019.

Chicago Cubs: Tyler Chatwood in 2018

Hoping to add some depth to the starting rotation, the Chicago Cubs signed right-hander Tyler Chatwood to a three-year deal prior to the 2018 season. Chatwood had some success pitching mostly for the Colorado Rockies prior to that year, but 2018 was a season to forget.

That year, Chatwood got into 24 games, making 20 starts. His ERA was 5.30, which wasn’t good, but he gained a lot of attention – for all the wrong reasons – with his inability to throw strikes: In 103 2/3 innings, he walked a staggering 95 batters.

Unlike many of the stories on this list, the Chatwood story got better. In 2019, Chatwood found success as a reliever/spot starter, as he made five starts and 38 relief appearances, spanning 76 2/3 innings. He posted the second-best ERA of his eight-year career at 3.76, while the walk rate plummeted from 8.2 per nine innings to 4.3. The Cubs are counting on the right-hander to contribute in some capacity in 2020, the final year of his contract.

Chicago Cubs: Daniel Descalso in 2019

Hoping to add some power to their bench, the Chicago Cubs traded away Tommy La Stella and signed Daniel Descalso as a free agent. In 2018, Descalso posted career highs in home runs (13) and RBIs (57) with the Arizona Diamondbacks while showing an ability to play several different positions. It looked like he would be a helpful piece.

No one could have foreseen how mightily Descalso would struggle at the plate in 2019. While La Stella had a career year with the Angels, Descalso’s season started well enough; through April 24, he was batting .310 with an .842 OPS. After that, to say he struggled was an understatement: In 128 plate appearances, his AVG/OBP/SLG line was a putrid .100/.206/.145.

It’s easy to forget, but Descalso is still under contract for 2020. It would be great if he could at least come close to getting back to the player he was prior to 2019. If so, that would be a big bonus for the Chicago Cubs.