Chicago Cubs: A look at who’s hot and who’s not right now

After a rough start to his 2020 season, Cubs reliever Craig Kimbrel turned into one of the best bullpen arms in the league. Manager David Ross has already stated Kimbrel would be the team’s closer to begin the season, but things haven’t been good so far this spring.

In three appearances, Kimbrel has thrown 2.2 innings while allowing seven hits and nine earned runs while walking one and striking out two batters.

Meanwhile the competition for the Cubs starting rotation is beginning to heat up. Aside from Kyle Hendricks, Zach Davies, and Jake Arrieta, the final two spots in the rotation are up for grabs.

Of those three pitchers, Davies has looked the best so far. The right-hander has yet to allow an earned run through five innings in his two starts in which he has walked two and struck out two batters.

Arrieta has thrown 5.1 innings through two starts and pitched to a 3.38 ERA while allowing five hits, four walks, and two strikeouts.

The team’s ace, Hendricks, has thrown five innings in his two starts, allowing four earned runs on eight hits. Hendricks has also struck out seven batters while walking one.

Which of the following pitchers will round out the Cubs starting rotation?

There is also the possibility Ross uses a six-man rotation, so one of the following candidates can earn a spot.

Cubs Starting Pitchers (Spring Statistics)

• Trevor Williams (2 games): 1.80 ERA 5 IP 6 SO 1 BB
• Shelby Miller (3 games): 1.80 ERA 5 IP 5 SO 2 BB
• Alec Mills (2 games) 2.08 ERA 4.1 IP 2 SO 2 BB
• Adbert Alzolay (2 games) 19.29 ERA 2.1 IP 2 BB 1 SO

I think it’s still too early to label any of these pitchers based on the handful of games they’ve appeared in thus far. We’ll get a larger sample size in the next few weeks to determine where Cubs pitching stands heading into the regular season.