Chicago Cubs and The Show 20 simulation is here

Chicago Cubs: Things begin in the spring

To start this simulation with non-other than spring training. This is where athletes who are not currently on the team, make a name for themself. As we skimmed through the spring training games, the Cubs went 13-14 overall. Kris Bryant led the whole Major League with a .417 batting average. Bryant also had the second-best on-base % percentage in league with .512 percent.

Along with Bryant, the 24-year-old first baseman Jared Young tied Bryant with a .417 batting average. Young only had twelve at-bats during spring training; in those at-bats, he went 5/12 with two home runs and five RBI. You can already tell that Young could play a role later on in the year. Another Cub who had an excellent spring training was center fielder Ian Happ who tied with Javier Baez for most home runs (5) on the team. Happ had a slugging percentage of .618 that is second to Bryant’s .694 percentage.

Defensively for the Cubs tied with the Miami Marlins for 18th with 235 assists this spring. Baez led the charge is assists as he racked up 55 of them. Newly acquired Jason Kipnis was close behind as he tallied 49 assists this spring. Cubs were 19th with 721 led by Wilson Contreras (191), Anthony Rizzo (164), and Kyle Schwarber (48). The Cubs were tied for 22nd in the league as they committed 14 errors in their 27 spring training games.

Chicago Cubs

Pitching for the Cubs, this spring training was outstanding. Yu Darvish led the way with a 2.55 ERA, Kyle Hendricks closely followed with a 3.09 ERA. As a team, the Cubs shutout opponents four times during spring training. Relief pitcher Dan Winkler was the only Cub to record a save this spring, Winkler recorded nine saves.

The Cubs finished seventh in the league, with only 212 hits allowed. They finished fifth as they only allowed 95 runs during the 27 games. The walks weren’t quite as bad as they could have been, as they had the 4th best with 79 walks allowed. Darvish led the team with 39 strikeouts as the Cubs finished with 219, which tied them for 16th with the Colorado Rockies.

While some have breakout stat lines and performances, others don’t have a great spring. One of the Cubs who didn’t have a great spring was catcher Miguel Amaya who finished spring training with one hit out of his 15 at-bats, giving him a team-worst .067 batting average. Besides Amaya, six other Cubs hit below a .200 batting average.

Top prospect Nico Hoerner went 4/28 in the 27 games that he appeared in. Catcher P.J. Higgins also went 4/28 and hit for a .143 batting average. Starting left fielder Schwarber only was successful 11 out of the 70 times; he went to the plate. David Bote and Albert Almora Jr. didn’t have a great spring either as they went a combined 18/106, giving them a combined average of .169 at the plate.