Chicago Cubs: Looking at a very thin starting rotation

Cubs: Zach Davies is likely going to have to step up into a bigger role

For the past two seasons, Yu Darvish was the number two starter for the Cubs. Now the likely number two is going to be the soft-tossing arm they got in return for Darvish. Zach Davies, 27, will be entering his seventh season in the majors.

“Poor man’s Kyle Hendricks” follows the theme of the Cubs rotation of soft-tossing arms who uses contact to get outs. He is a career 3.79 ERA pitcher with a 4.18 FIP and 1.3 WHIP in 123 starts. Last season with the Padres he pitched to a career-low 2.73 ERA and 1.1 WHIP in 12 starts.

Here is the thing, he is a solid pitcher and not a bad veteran piece to have. He has plenty of experience pitching at Wrigley Field and has been part of several postseason teams. However he is typically more of a back-of-the-rotation type arm.

Ideally he is a four or five starter that can eat innings and pitch well enough to keep teams in games. With the group of names currently with the Cubs however, he will likely be at the top of the rotation because of his experience. Needless to say, he’s nowhere near what Darvish was.