Chicago Cubs: Three players under the most pressure in 2020

Chicago Cubs: Yu Darvish

Yu Darvish has quickly become a fan favorite on the north side of Chicago. He had a great second half of 2019, while his personality and posts on Twitter have provided entertainment for many Cubs fans this past offseason.

Yet let’s not forget that it wasn’t that long ago that many Cubs fans had deemed the Darvish signing to be a disaster. After signing a big six-year deal with the club, he was ineffective in 2018 before going down with injury. Then, he put together a second half in which he posted a 2.76 ERA in 13 starts, but not before posting a 5.01 ERA in 18 first half starts.

So Darvish has basically had less than half a season of great pitching following one and a half years of injuries and ineffectiveness. I’m not trying to rain on the parade that is Cubs fans’ love for Darvish, but especially with Darvish about to turn 34, it’s far from a guarantee that he will continue to pitch like he did down the stretch late last year.

With Jon Lester appearing to be in the twilight of his career and Jose Quintana not living up to expectations after the big trade for him in 2017, the expectations will be very high for Darvish this season. The Cubs have to have a great season from him; if he stumbles out of the gate and starts walking people at a high rate again, the love fest for Darvish could quickly come to an end.

I hope it doesn’t happen and that Darvish has a great 12 or 13 start season for the Cubs in 2020. All I’m saying is that the fans will be expecting him to continue his dominance from late last year, and if it doesn’t happen, the Cubs’ shortened season could quickly turn south. So though we may not realize it at first, the sky-high expectations for Darvish mean the pressure will be on.

Chicago Cubs: Craig Kimbrel

When he signed the massive three-year contract during the 2019 season, Craig Kimbrel was expected to be the team’s savior, that final piece of the puzzle to help make the Cubs an elite team again. As we know, it did not go according to plan: Kimbrel battled injuries, and when he was on the mound, he gave up a whopping nine home runs in just 20 2/3 innings.

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Last season’s abysmal performance have led some to believe that the potential Hall of Fame closer has passed his prime, and expectations coming into the season, before it was shut down, were relatively low. Yet in a 60-game season, every close game becomes magnified, and the pressure will be on Kimbrel to deliver whenever he has the chance at a save opportunity.

This becomes even more true when we consider how much talent the Cubs lost in their bullpen this past offseason. Some think the new-look bullpen could be a strength, as the front office did add a lot of potential low-risk, high-reward arms. Yet regardless of how well the middle relief works out, Kimbrel will have to come through in the ninth inning for this team to have any chance.

The good news for Kimbrel is that it’s not too late to change the narrative. If he bounces back and has a good season, what happened in 2019 will likely be written off as an aberration.

Still, Cubs fans will be on the edge of their seats the first time that Kimbrel gets the ball in a save opportunity. Will he be able to find a second wind for his career? It’s one of the biggest questions the team faces heading into the shortened 2020 campaign.