Cubs News: Giving key players their 2020 letter grades

Chicago Cubs: With the season officially over, the players can be evaluated individually on their performances.

When Jason Kipnis struck out to end game two of the Wild Card round, the offseason officially began for the Chicago Cubs. The NL Central champs were swept swiftly by the Miami Marlins as they scored a total of one run in the series. The Cubs have not won a postseason game series since 2017.

Looking at all the individual performances from key Cubs players, it is still honestly amazing they won the division. The 13-3 start certainly helped, as did a favorable schedule. Safe to say, despite the division title, the team saw a lot of disappointing performances from the top dogs. One cannot help but wonder where this team would have finished in a regular 162-game season.

Without further ado, here is a report card for key Cubs players in 2020. Note the players included are regular contributors and not role players who came in late like Billy Hamilton or Cameron Maybin. Who knows what the team will look like in the future. It is possible a number of these guys will not be back next season. It would be a shame to see sour endings for some of these guys, but at the end of the day, the team has to make necessary changes.

Chicago Cubs: The source of the Cubs offensive woes, unfortunately, came from the infielders.

Anthony Rizzo: C-

The captain put a .222/.342/.414 slash with 11 homers and a .755 OPS. The average is terrible, but the OBP is excellent, and the OPS is a few ticks above average. Could say it was an okay season, but his 0-for in the postseason hurt the team. If this were a guy on the bench, then the grade could be higher, but standards are held higher for the face of the franchise.

Kris Bryant: F

No question this season for the former NL MVP was horrific. He hit .206/.293/.351 with four home runs, 11 RBI and 73 OPS+. He battled more nagging injuries and could not catch up to fastballs. His value might have taken a big hit with this season. I do not believe this is who he is, but regardless this was an awful season for Bryant. His future will once again be in question.

Javier Baez: F 

El Mago showed off his glove this season, but not his bat. After being arguably the most productive hitter the past several years, Baez had an incredibly rough go in 2020. He hit .203/.238/.360 with eight homers, 75 strikeouts, and a dismal .599 OPS and 59 OPS+. That is not like him. He looked lost and frustrated all year. At least he had two walk-off hits. Put this season in the trash and come back to form in 2021.

Jason Kipnis: B-

The Cubs brought in the former Indians All-Star on a minor league deal. He started very well, hitting .282/.408/.564 in his first 15 games. He tailed off a bit and finished the year with a .237/.341/.404 slash with 16 RBI and a 101 OPS+ in 44 games. Overall he was a nice pickup for the Cubs both on the field and in the clubhouse. I think they got what they could reasonably ask for him.

David Bote: C

A very odd season for Bote. The overall numbers do not look great, .200/.303/.408 with a 90 OPS+ and seven home runs. However, he was first on the team in RBI (29), and he came up big in critical games with game-winning hits. Overall, Bote hit .379 with RISP with an OPS of 1.176 in that situation. Give the guy credit for being clutch.

Nico Hoerner: D-

I think we have to put this case in perspective. It is very reasonable to say or believe that the 23-year old kid just was not ready to be in the Bigs long-term just yet. The inexperience showed as he hit just .222/.312/.259 with no home runs and a 57 OPS+. Cubs might want to think about giving the kid some seasoning in 2021 before becoming a full-time MLB player. I believe the promise is still there. A bad grade, but not writing him off.

Catchers were on paper of the significant strengths of the Chicago Cubs going into 2020. The results were mixed

Willson Contreras: B

It was an odd year for Willy. He started very well, went into an awful slump, then started picking it up again. He slashed .243/.356/.407 with seven home runs and a .763 OPS. Not his best year hitting, but he had his moments. The biggest compliment I can give was the improved pitch framing that did him and his battery mates many favors. Sure the batting stats could be better, but he did an excellent job at getting on base.

Victor Caratini: C-

After his breakout season last year, 2020 was not awful, but it was kind of disappointing. For a backup catcher, his .241/.333/.328 is not bad, but it is safe to say the expectations were higher. Not writing him off, and it could be just a “meh” year, but I thought we would see a bit better. Still believe he has the talent to be a solid contributor offensively moving forward.

Josh Phegley: F

A third-string catcher known for defense and not his bat was precisely that in 2020. Phegley was there to be insurance as he is a reliable catcher behind the dish. He will be a fun footnote in the “Former Cubs Great” list.

Chicago Cubs: They carried the team for much of the season when the offense would go cold.

Yu Darvish: A+

He’s a Cy Young finalist and deservedly so. Darvish dominated this season as he pitched to a 2.01 ERA, 2.23 FIP, 11.0 K/9, 1.7 BB/9 and 0.961 WHIP in 12 starts. This was the guy Theo Epstein signed to a big contract back in 2018. His arsenal of pitches was huge, and the movement was nasty. If there is a team MVP, then Darvish deserves that title. It is a shame his team could not get him runs in the playoffs.

Kyle Hendricks: A

The professor did what he did, and that is schooling his opponents. He got off to a fantastic start with his complete-game shutout on opening night against the Brewers at Wrigley Field. On the season, he pitched to a 2.88 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 0.996 WHIP and 0.9 BB/9 in 12 starts. He is among the best at getting groundballs and soft contact. Not much else to say, but the most underrated starter in the National League lived up to expectations in 2020.

Jon Lester: D

One of the best free-agent signings in Cubs history had a rough season in 2020. It is hard to admit that it was not very surprising, but it wasn’t. The former ace at age 36 is losing the battle to Father Time as all athletes do. His 5.16 ERA and 5.14 FIP were career-worsts in games he started at least 12 games in. What stinks is that he did not get a chance to pitch at Wrigley Field in the postseason this year as this is likely the end of the road for Big Jon as a Cub. What a ride it was with him, and he will be remembered by Cubs fans forever for all the great things he did here.

Alec Mills: C

In a season in which Mills started a career-high 11 games, he had many ups and downs. The 28-year old pitcher made history in Milwaukee in September when he threw a no-hitter against the Brewers. He also had several quality starts early on. Sad to say, he also got roughed up a few times and finished with a 4.48 ERA and 1.2 WHIP. For a guy like Mills, credit him for the good he did and put in perspective that he is likely not going to be a full-time starter long term, but possibly a long-reliever/spot starter.

Tyler Chatwood: B

This one was tough to grade; he only pitched in five games before getting hurt and put up a 5.30 ERA. However, his first few starts were dominant before he got roughed up in Kansas City. The FIP was still at 3.35 when it was all said and done. Many people will disagree with this grade, but I enjoyed watching him pitch outside the one horrific outing.

Jose Quintana: Incomplete

He was hurt most of the season and only pitched in four games.

Chicago Cubs: Many guys pitched out of the bullpen for the Cubs in 2020, so we will highlight the main ones.

Craig Kimbrel: D+

When the season began, the grades were a no-doubt F for Kimbrel. It was historically bad how he was pitching early on. However, his final 12 appearances, he pitched to a 1.69 ERA, struck out 22 batters, and walked six. He found his velocity again and was getting swings and misses too. The grade is still down because he overall was not relied on to close; let’s hope he’s truly trending upwards.

Jeremy Jeffress: B+

The veteran reliever got the job done this season as he put up a 1.54 ERA and 0.943 WHIP in 22 games. He did not miss many bats, and the walks were a wee bit high, but he got outs. Sadly things were not relatively as smooth later in the season, but overall an outstanding season for Jeffress.

Rowan Wick: B

The stuff was still pretty good, and the ERA and FIP were good at 3.12 and 2.67; he just was not entirely as consistent as last year, and ended up getting hurt at the end of the year. He still missed some bats and recorded 20 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings.

Ryan Tepera: C+

This guy did an excellent job at recording strikeouts (13.5 K/9) and put up a 3.34 FIP in 21 games. Tepera, when he was on, threw some pretty nasty stuff. He had some walk issues and had a few rough outings, which saw his stats balloon a bit. Overall he was trustworthy.

Dan Winkler: C

Kind of like Tepera, the guy could miss bats and record strikeouts. He recorded 18 in 18 1/3 innings of work. 5.4 BB/9 was an issue, though. He got off to a rough start, but he did end up finishing the season with a 2.95 ERA. The grade might not reflect the ERA, as the FIP was up at 5.32 with walks home runs given up, but he still performed good enough to be called on.

Kyle Ryan: F

The velocity was down, and he got hit pretty hard. After having an excellent 2019 season for the Cubs, he struggled this year with a 5.17 ERA and 7.08 FIP.

Duane Underwood Jr: F 

Once a notable Cubs pitching prospect, it just has not worked out for Underwood Jr. It might be time to move on. Hopefully, he can find success in another environment.

So to recap, 4 As, 4 Bs, 6 Cs, 4 Ds, 7 Fs. A majority of the grades were a C or lower. This is a team that won the division, but we all saw the holes and flaws in the team. Hopefully, a lot of this will be fixed for 2021.